ISSN 0004-2730 print version
ISSN 1677-9487 online version

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

• Objective and policy

The ABE&M journal accepts contributions in clinical and basic Endocrinology and related sciences in the following categories: (1) Original Article, (2) Review and Mini-Review Article, (3) Clinical Case Report, (4) Special Case, (5) Perspectives, (6) Controversies, (7) Memories, (8) Editorials, and (9) Letters to the Editor.

Manuscripts (MS) should be written in Portuguese or English and should follow the instructions given by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), also known as the Vancouver Group (online at: http://www.icmje.org).

Authorship

All persons designated as authors should take responsibility for authoring the MS and for having participated sufficiently in the work to thus take public responsibility for its content. Credit for authorship should be based solely on substantial contribution during: (i) design, planning, execution, analysis, and interpretation of the results, (ii) drafting or revision of the article in an intellectually important capacity, and (iii) final approval of the version to be published. Participation limited to raising funds, collecting data, general supervision or heading a research group does not constitute authorship.

The Editors may request justification for the inclusion of authors during the revision process, especially if the total number of authors exceeds six.

The authors should make it clear whether or not there is a potential conflict of interest, and this information should be included in the Acknowledgements section.

The epistemological concepts and fundaments, data, experiments, research sources, and conclusions stated in the signed MS are entirely the responsibility of the author(s). Papers submitted to the ABE&M will undergo linguistic review by reviewers qualified by the Editorial Board. This review will neither affect authorship of the paper nor will it relieve the author(s) of responsibility regarding this work of intellectual creation.

Submission of articles

Starting on January 1, 2009, every manuscript should be submitted electronically at http://www.abem-sbem.org.br. The manuscript should be in Word (2003) format (filename.doc) with the option of including supplementary articles. Every manuscript should be submitted exclusively to the ABE&M journal.

When the MS is submitted, the author(s) should send a letter describing the article to the Editor-in-Chief. This letter should include information on potential conflicts of interest, referrals of reviewers or even a request to exclude a specific potential reviewer, provided a compelling reason is given.

Manuscript Review

Every manuscript submitted to the ABE&M, which complies with the "Instructions for Authors" and the journal’s editorial policy, will be analyzed by the Editorial Board for evaluation of its content and scientific quality. Once the manuscript has been approved in this phase, it will be sent on for peer review to reviewers of recognized competence in the subject, whose anonymity is guaranteed during the entire review process. The final decision on acceptance or rejection of the MS is made by the Editors.

Accepted manuscripts

All published manuscripts become the property of Arquivos Brasileiros de Endocrinologia e Metabologia and may not be reproduced, republished, or published using electronic means without authorization. Once the article has been accepted for publication, the author(s) implicitly transfer the copyright to the ABE&M. For editorial reasons, the Editors reserve the right to make slight graphic or wording modifications to the text, without interfering with its content.

Preparation of Manuscripts

1. ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Original Article is a scientific report of the results of original research that has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere.

Manuscripts should be typed, double spaced, and formatted on letter-size (216 x 279 mm) or A4 (212 x 297 mm) paper, with at least 2.5 cm margins on each side. Each of the following sections should begin on a new page: (A) Title page, (B) Abstract and Keywords in Portuguese, (C) Abstract and Keywords in English, (D) Complete text, (E) Acknowledgements, (F) References, (G) Tables (each with a title and legend), (H) Figure legends, and (I) Figures. The pages should be numbered consecutively starting with the title page.

A. Title Page

The Title Page should contain: (a) MS title (in Portuguese and English), (b) name and institutional affiliation of all authors, (c) name of the Service(s) and/or Department(s) and Institutions(s) where work was done, (d) name and full address (including e-mail) of the author responsible for correspondence, (and) a "running title" of up to 40 characters (including spaces).

B/C. Abstract in Portuguese and Abstract in English

The second page should contain a semi-structured Abstract in English (containing: Objective, Methods, Results, and Conclusions), consisting of up to 150 words. On a separate page, the Abstract in Portuguese should be presented, which should be a faithful translation of the abstract into the Portuguese language. At the end of the both Abstracts, English and Portuguese, 4 to 6 keywords should be given, in order to facilitate later indexation. These keywords (descriptors) should comply with Index Medicus standards, which can be consulted at: http://decs.bvs.br.

D. Text

The Text should be divided into the following four sections: (I) Introduction, (II) Methods, (III) Results, and (IV) Discussion.

I. Introduction: The Introduction should state the purpose of the paper, summarizing the rationale for the study and its scientific relevance. Review of the subject should be succinct and should avoid inclusion of results or conclusions which are presented later in the paper.

II. Methods: The Methods section should include a description of the experimental model employed (patients or laboratory animals), with indications of the study’s approval by the Hospital Ethics Committee or Research Institute where the study was carried out, in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration and the Ethical Principles on Animal Experimentation of the Brazilian College of Animal Experimentation (COBEA).

There should be a description of the methods employed, citing the main devices and equipment used (name of the manufacturer and/or origin of the material in parentheses) with technical details of the procedures in sufficient detail to allow their reproduction. Widely established methods may be cited using references. Statistical methods should be described with enough detail to enable those with access to the original data to verify the results.

III. Results: Results should be presented in a logical sequence within the text, avoiding repetition of the data shown in tables or figures; only important observations should be emphasized.

Units of Measurement - The measurements and their respective abbreviations should be in line with the International System of Units (IS, http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units). Measurements of length, height, weight, and volume should be given in metric system units (meter, kilogram, liter) or their decimal multiples; temperatures should be given in degrees Celsius (ºC), blood pressure in millimeters of mercury (mmHg), and the hematological and chemical values should be given using the traditional metric system.

IV. Discussion: The Discussion section should comment on new and important aspects covered in the study in relation to the available literature. In this section, focus should also be given to the conclusions reached. Avoid repeating results or information already presented in other sections.

Special attention should be paid to the implications of the findings, their limitations, and even recommendations for future studies.

E. Acknowledgements

On a new page, include: (i) contributions requiring acknowledgement, but not justifying authorship, (ii) acknowledgement of technical, financial, and material assistance, including governmental assistance and/or assistance from pharmaceutical laboratories and, (iii) Conflit of interest (obligatory): descriptions of funding that may represent a potential conflict of interest and/or a statement that there was no conflict of interest that might have interfered with the impartiality of the scientific work.

F. References (up to 40 in original articles)

References should be numbered consecutively in the order of their appearance in the text and identified by Arabic numerals between parentheses, as shown in the example:

"There were new advances in molecular medicine (3), followed by advances in the area of applied genetics (4-6), which…" When there are references in tables and figures, the order of these references should correspond to the order in which the tables and figures are mentioned in the text.

Journal titles should be abbreviated according to the style used in the Index Medicus and according to the reference format recommended by the ICMJE, as shown online at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html.

The exactness of references contained on the list and the correct reference in the text are the responsibility of the author(s).

Papers accepted and not yet published may be included by providing the name of the journal followed by the year and (in press). References to abstracts presented at congresses should be avoided.

We recommend the use of bibliographic reference management software (e.g.: EndNote, Reference Manager) - select "Vancouver" style. Some examples:

Article in Journals (If there are more than six authors, only the first six should be named, followed by et al.)

Suszko MI, Lo DJ, Suh H, Camper SA, Woodruff TK. Regulation of the rat follicle-stimulating hormone beta-subunit promoter by activin. Mol Endocrinol 2003;17(3):318-32.

Thomas TZ, Wang H, Niclasen P, O'Bryan MK, Evans LW, Groome NP, et al. Expression and localization of activin subunits and follistatins in tissues from men with high grade prostate cancer. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1997;82(11):3851-8.

Electronic article released on the Internet before the printed version is published:

Yu WM, Hawley TS, Hawley RG, Qu CK. Immortalization of yolk sac-derived precursor cells. Blood. 2002 Nov 15;100(10):3828-31. Epub 2002 Jul 5.

Electronic article released on the Internet without a printed version:

Abood S. Quality improvement initiative in nursing homes: the ANA acts in an advisory role. Am J Nurs [serial on the Internet]. 2002 Jun [cited 2002 Aug 12];102(6):[about 3 p.]. Available from: http://www.nursingworld.org/AJN/2002/june/Wawatch.htm

Chapter in a Book:

Conte FA, Grumbach MM. Abnormalities of sexual determination and differentiation. In: Greenspan FS, Gardner DG, editors. Basic & clinical endocrinology. 6th ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2001.p.509-46.

Book:

Leder P, Clayton DA, Rubenstein E. Introduction to molecular medicine. New York: Scientific American; 1994.

Database on the Internet:

Jablonski S. Online Multiple Congenital Anomaly/Mental Retardation (MCA/MR) Syndromes [database on the Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US). c1999 [updated 2001 Nov 20; cited 2002 Aug 12]. Available from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/archive//20061212/mesh/jablonski/syndrome_title.html

MeSH Browser [database on the Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); 2002 - [cited 2003 Jun 10]. Meta-analysis; unique ID: D015201; [about 3 p.]. Available from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html Files updated weekly

G. Tables

Each table should be presented on a separate sheet. It should be typed, double spaced, and numbered, using Arabic numerals, in accordance with its appearance in the text. There should be a brief title on the top of the page along with explanations, a legend, and statistics appropriately indicated in the footer.

H/I. Figures and Legends

Figures should be originally prepared using one of these file extensions: TIFF (Tagged Image File Format), JPG or JPEG, EPS (Encapsulated PostScript). The letters, numbers, and symbols inserted in the figures should be clear and large enough so as to remain legible following substantial reduction for publication. The titles and legends for the figures should be given on a separate sheet, and never inside the figure itself.

During the initial submission process, figures may be inserted into the word or PowerPoint file; however, once the manuscript is accepted, they should be sent in their original files with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi. Standard printing of the publication supports only two colors (black - red), for this reason, multicolored figures should be avoided. Including a colored figure will incur cost (R$ 900/each figure), which will be paid by the authors. Payment will be requested by the editor in due time.

2. REVIEW OR MINI-REVIEW ARTICLE

A Review Article is a broad and systematic critical evaluation of the literature on a certain subject and should contain the procedures adopted, with a clear outline of the limits of the topic, ending with the author's conclusions. Articles in this category are requested by the Editors to authors with proven experience in the field. It should have a Title (in Portuguese and English), Running Title of up to 40 characters, Abstract in Portuguese/Abstract in English (structuring is not necessary), Descriptors/Keywords, Text (with or without subsections), Acknowledgements and References. The general instructions for Page Title, Figures/Tables and References are the same as for Original Articles.

Reviews should not have more than 30 standard pages, including at most 60 references, and mini-reviews should not have more than 15 standard pages, with at most 20 references. Mention of previously published articles in the journal, as well as inclusion of illustrations such as tables, figures, graphs, or a combination of these, is recommended. The author should mention the source and/or request authorization for use of previously published figures.

3. CLINICAL CASE REPORT

This section is used to publish interesting clinical cases and clinical cases that show some originality, unusual or non-conventional aspect. It should show interesting clinical, laboratorial, and progression-related aspects, which should be duly documented. It should have a Title (in Portuguese and English), Running Title of up to 40 characters, Abstract in Portuguese/Abstract in English (structuring is not necessary), Descriptors/Keywords, Text (with or without subsections), Acknowledgements, and References. The general instructions for Page Title, Figures/Tables, Acknowledgements and References are the same as for Original Articles.

4. SPECIAL CASE

In this section, cases of special educational interest, which have been duly studied and presented in clinical meetings at well-known national Endocrinology centers or services, are examined. The MS should necessarily include an abstract of the case and a general discussion presented by the audience attending the meeting, with their full names and titles. The material should be edited beforehand by one of the people responsible for the case or the scientific meeting. The authors of the MS should be limited to the presenter(s) and the person or people who discussed the case, along with the date and location of the presentation and the name and address of the person responsible for the MS. Include Title Page, Abstract in Portuguese, Abstract in English, Keywords Acknowledgements and References.

5. PERSPECTIVES

The purpose of this section is to serve as a vehicle for spreading new ideas and concepts in the different areas of Endocrinology, including basic, application, clinical, teaching, and training areas. The articles can cover: (a) interpretive essays, which use the research data of the author(s) in order to develop new ideas, (b) research proposals for collaborative studies with different centers, (c) innovative essays dealing with the interrelationship of Endocrinology with other areas, (d) passages from the history of Brazilian or International Endocrinology including critical analysis of events, figures, or institutions. The general instructions are the same as for Original Articles and Reviews.

6. CONTROVERSIES

The manuscripts presented in this section are requested by the Editors. The objective of this section is to highlight topics in clinical Endocrinology, particularly those related to diagnosis and treatment of frequent endocrine diseases, whose management is not sufficiently standardized and which may, therefore, present different management options.

7. MEMORIES

This section aims to remember and honor people, institutions, and situations of importance or historical relevance to Endocrinology, especially Brazilian Endocrinology. The MS may be submitted spontaneously, or upon request from the editors, by authors who witnessed the situation or events from a close range.

8. EDITORIALS

Editorials are written by the Editors, covering diverse topics within the specialty and/or relative to the Journal, or requested to specialists, invited by the Editorial Board, with the purpose of providing comments concerning an article in the current issue of the Journal with special interest for the readers.

9. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Includes letters that aim to comment on or discuss articles recently published in the journal or briefly discuss new research or significant scientific findings. The text is limited to 8 pages (A4 or letter) including Acknowledgements and up to 15 references.