The Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry is the official publication of Associação Brasileira de Psiquiatria (ABP - Brazilian Psychiatric Association).

Former Revista ABP and previously published under the main title Revista Brasileira de Psiquiatria, the Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry is published bimonthly (February, April, June, August, October, December). Its purpose is to publish original works from all areas of psychiatry, focusing on public health, clinical epidemiology, basic sciences, and mental health problems that are relevant in our setting.

Contents published represent the opinions of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of the Editorial Board.

The abbreviated title of the journal is Braz. J. Psychiatry, which should be used in bibliographies, footnotes and bibliographical references.

• Thomson Reuters Web of Science
• MEDLINE
• Scopus
• PsycInfo
• Embase
• Lilacs (Bireme)

All content of the journal, except where identified, is licensed under a Creative Commons attribution-type BY-NC.

The journal receives financial support from:

• Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq)
• Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior (CAPES)
• Ministério da Educação
• Ministério da Ciência e Tecnologia

• Antonio Egidio Nardi (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil)
• João Quevedo (The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA)

• Andre F. Carvalho (University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, Canada)
• Ary Gadelha de Alencar Araripe Neto (Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil)
• Benicio Frey (McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada)
• Cristiano Noto (Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil)
• Gabriel R. Fries (The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA)
• Giovanni A. Salum Junior (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil)
• Gisele Manfro (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil)
• Giselli Scaini (The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA)
• Homero Pinto Vallada Filho (Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil)
• Leandro Malloy Diniz (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil)
• Orestes Forlenza (Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil)
• Pedro Pan (Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil)
• Raffael Massuda (Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil)
• Rodrigo Machado-Vieira (The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, TX, USA)
• Thiago Marques Fidalgo (Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil)

Associate Editor for Public Affairs

• Antônio Geraldo da Silva (Universidade do Porto, Porto, Portugal)

• Alexandre Loch (Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil)
• Ana Paula Costa (Columbia University, New York, NY, USA)
• Daniel Cavalcante (Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil)
• Douglas Leffa (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil)
• Gabriela Mourão Ferreira (Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, PR, Brazil)
• Gracciele Cunha (Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil)
• Jonas Jardim de Paula (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil)
• Laiana Quagliato (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ, Brazil)
• Laís Moreira Fonseca (Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil)
• Luciano Minuzzi (McMaster University, Hamilton, ON, Canada)
• Natan Pereira Gosmann (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil)
• Pedro Manfro (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Porto Alegre, RS, Brazil)
• Vanessa de Jesus Rodrigues de Paula (Universidade de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil)
• Vítor S. Tardelli (Universidade Federal de São Paulo, São Paulo, SP, Brazil)

• Aartjan T. F. Beekman (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Netherlands)
• Alessandra Goulart (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil)
• Alexandra I. Zugno (Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense, Brazil)
• Allan H. Young (King's College London, UK)
• Ana Lúcia Severo Rodrigues (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil)
• Andre B. Veras (Universidade Católica Dom Bosco, Brazil)
• Andre Brunoni (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil)
• Andrea Danese (Kings College London, UK)
• Anilkumar Pillai (The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, USA)
• Anna-Katharine Brem (Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Germany)
• Anne Sauvaget (Université de Nantes, France)
• Annelise Julio-Costa (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil)
• Arthur Guerra de Andrade (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil)
• Avshalom Caspi (Duke University, USA)
• Benjamin Goldstein (University of Toronto, Canada)
• Benoit Mulsant (University of Toronto, Canada)
• Brendon Stubbs (King’s College London, UK)
• Breno S. Diniz (University of Toronto, Canada)
• Bruno Kluwe Schiavon (Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)
• Camilo de la Fuente-Sandoval (Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico)
• Carl Leukefeld (University of Kentuky, USA)
• Carlos López-Jaramillo (Universidad de Antioquia, Colombia)
• Carlos Zarate (National Institutes of Health, USA)
• Carolina Blaya (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)
• Charles B. Nemeroff (The University of Texas at Austin, USA)
• Clarissa Gama (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)
• Claudio Soares (Queen's University, Canada)
• Clement Hamani (University of Toronto, Canada)
• Cristiane Silvestre de Paula (Universidade Presbiteriana Mackenzie, Brazil)
• Cristiano Tschiedel (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)
• Dan Stein (University of Cape Town, South Africa)
• Daniel Fuentes (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil)
• Danielle Macêdo Gaspar (Universidade Federal do Ceará, Brazil)
• Danielle Souza (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil)
• Danilo A. Pereira (Instituto Brasileiro de Neuropsicologia e Ciências Cognitivas, Brazil)
• David Mataix-Cols (Karolinska Institutet, Sweden)
• Eduard Vieta (Universitat de Barcelona, Spain)
• Elisa Brietzke (Queen's University, Canada)
• Elson Asevedo (Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil)
• Eric Alan Storch (Baylor College of Medicine, USA)
• Evandro da Silva Freire Coutinho (Fundação Oswaldo Cruz, Brazil)
• Fabiano G. Nery (University of Cincinnati, USA)
• Felice Jacka (Deakin University, Australia)
• Felipe B. Schuch (Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Brazil)
• Felipe Dal-Pizzol (Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense, Brazil)
• Felix H. Paim Kessler (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)
• Fiammetta Cosci (Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy)
• Flavio Pechansky (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)
• Francisca Rego (Universidade do Porto, Portugal)
• Gabriel Coutinho (Centro Universitário Celso Lisboa, Brazil)
• George Woody (University of Pennsylvania, USA)
• Geraldo Busatto Filho (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil)
• Gerhard Andersson (Linköping University, Sweden)
• Giacomo Grassi (Università degli Studi di Firenze, Italy)
• Giordano D'Urso (Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II, Italy)
• Gislaine Z. Reus (Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense, Brazil)
• Guilherme V. Polanczyk (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil)
• Helena Paula Brentani (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil)
• Humberto Correa (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil)
• Ilana Pinsky (Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil)
• Iria Grande (Universitat de Barcelona, Spain)
• Ishrat Husain (University of Toronto, Canada)
• Izabela Guimarães Barbosa (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil)
• Jaime E. C. Hallak (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil)
• Jair C. Soares (The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, USA)
• Janardhan Reddy (National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences, India)
• Janusz Rybakowski (Poznań University, Poland)
• Jeffrey P. Kahn (Cornell University, USA)
• Jennifer L. Payne (Johns Hopkins University, USA)
• Jerson Laks (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
• John Elhai (University of Toledo, USA)
• Jorge R. Cardoso de Almeida (The University of Texas at Austin, USA)
• José Carlos Appolinário (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
• José Neander Silva Abreu (Universidade Federal da Bahia, Brazil)
• Joy M. Schmitz (The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, USA)
• Julio Bobes (Universidad de Oviedo, Spain)
• Julio Licinio (SUNY Upstate Medical University, USA)
• Karen Jansen (Universidade Católica de Pelotas, Brazil)
• Katharina Kircanski (National Institutes of Mental Health, USA)
• Kathleen R. Merikangas (National Institute of Mental Health, USA)
• Laiss Bertola (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil)
• Lakshmi Yatham (University of British Columbia, Canada)
• Laura Helena Silveira Guerra de Andrade (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil)
• Leandro Valiengo (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil)
• Leonardo F. Fontenelle (Monash University, Australia)
• Leticia Czepielewski (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)
• Lisia von Diemen (Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil)
• Louise D. McCullough (The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, USA)
• Lucy Albertella (Monash University, Australia)
• Luis Anunciação (Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Brazil)
• Lukas Frase (University of Freiburg, Germany)
• Ma-Li Wong (SUNY Upstate Medical University, USA)
• Madhukar H. Trivedi (University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA)
• Maicon Rodrigues Albuquerque (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil)
• Marc Potenza (Yale University, USA)
• Marco Aurélio Romano-Silva (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil)
• Marco Solmi (University of Padua, Padua, Italy)
• Maria Conceição do Rosário (Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil)
• Maria Oquendo (University of Pennsylvania, USA)
• Mario F. Juruena (King’s College London, UK)
• Matcheri Keshavan (Harvard University, USA)
• Mauricio Scopel Hoffmann (Universidade Federal de Santa Maria, Brazil)
• Mauricio Tohen (University of New Mexico, USA)
• Mauro Carta (Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Italy)
• Melissa DelBello (University of Cincinnati Medical Center, USA)
• Michael Berk (Deakin University, Australia)
• Michael Maes (Deakin University, Australia)
• Michael Twohig (Utah State University, USA)
• Michael Van Ameringen (McMaster University, Canada)
• Miguel Ángel Mendoza-Meléndez (Centro de Investigación y de Estudios Avanzados del Instituto Politécnico Nacional, Mexico)
• Milton Wainberg (Columbia University, USA)
• Monica Andersen (Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil)
• Nicolas Crossley (Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Chile)
• Osvaldo P. Almeida (University of Western Australia, Australia)
• Paulo Lotufo (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil)
• Pim Cuijpers (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands)
• Ping-Tao Tseng (National Sun Yat-sen University, Taiwan)
• Rafael C. R. Freire (Queen's University, Canada)
• Richard Balon (Wayne State University, USA)
• Rico Lee (Monash University, Australia)
• Robert Dantzer (University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, USA)
• Robert M. Post (George Washington University, USA)
• Roberto Cruz (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil)
• Rodrigo Nicolato (Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais, Brazil)
• Roger S. McIntyre (University of Toronto, Canada)
• Roger Walz (Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina, Brazil)
• Roumen Milev (Providence Care Hospital, Canada)
• Rui Nunes (Universidade do Porto, Portugal)
• Russell Margolis (Johns Hopkins Medicine, USA)
• Sagar V. Parikh (University of Michigan, USA)
• Sam R. Chamberlain (University of Cambridge, UK)
• Samira S. Valvassori (Universidade do Extremo Sul Catarinense, Brazil)
• Sandra Scivoletto (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil)
• Sanjay J. Mathew (Baylor College of Medicine, USA)
• Sara Evans-Lacko (London School of Economics and Political Science, UK)
• Sharon Morein Zamir (Anglia Ruskin University, UK)
• Sheila Cavalcante Caetano (Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil)
• Stefan Kloiber (The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, Canada)
• Taiane de Azevedo Cardoso (McMaster University, Canada)
• Tatiana Barichello (The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, USA)
• Theo Rein (Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Germany)
• Thomas Brown (McGill University, Canada)
• Tiago Marques (King's College London, UK)
• Ulrich Palm (University of Munich, Germany)
• Vladan Starcevic (University of Sydney, Australia)
• Vlasios Brakoulias (University of Sydney, Australia)
• Wayne K. Goodman (Baylor College of Medicine, USA)
• Xiang Yang Zhang (Chinese Academy of Sciences, China)
• Yong-Ku Kim (Korea University, South Korea)
• Yuan-Pang Wang (Universidade de São Paulo, Brazil)
• Zila Sanchez (Universidade Federal de São Paulo, Brazil)

• Euripedes Constantino Miguel (1999-2007)
• Jair de Jesus Mari (1999-2007)
• Luis Augusto Rohde (2006-2008)
• Rodrigo Affonseca-Bressan (2008-2011)
• Beny Lafer (2008-2010)
• Marcelo Pio de Almeida Fleck (2008-2012)
• José Alexandre Crippa (2011-2012)
• Flavio Kapczinski (2013-2016)

President

• Carmita Helena Najjar Abdo

Vice-President

• Alfredo José Minervino

Executive Secretary

• Claudio Meneghello Martins

Adjunct Executive Secretary

• Maria de Fátima Viana de Vasconcellos

Executive Treasurer 

• Antônio Geraldo da Silva

Adjunct Executive Treasurer

• Maurício Leão de Rezende

Editorial Management

• Osler Médicos Associados

Production Editor

• Denise Arend
• Scientific Linguagem

Copyediting

• Scientific Linguagem

Typesetting

• Charlesworth Group

Graphic production

• Marcos Silva Matte

The Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry is a bimonthly publication that aims to publish original manuscripts in all areas of psychiatry, including public health, clinical epidemiology, basic science, and mental health problems. The journal is fully open access, and there are no article processing or publication fees. Articles must be written in English.

These instructions were written based on the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publications, edited by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). The original document is available at http://www.icmje.org/.

Advertising

Commercial advertisements are accepted for analysis but will not be juxtaposed with editorial content. The Editors and ABP reserve the right to refuse any print and online advertisements that will be considered inappropriate or that do not comply with existing regulatory standards.

The first time you use the manuscript submission site of the Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry at https://mc04.manuscriptcentral.com/rbp-scielo, you will be asked to create an account. You will use the same username and password for author and reviewer functions. You may log into the system at any time to submit a manuscript or to check on the status of previously submitted manuscripts. To submit a manuscript, select Author and click on Begin Submission.

The manuscript submission process includes 7 steps that gather information about your manuscript and allow you to upload the pertinent files (cover letter, manuscript text, tables, figures, and related material).

Step 1: Manuscript type, title and abstract
First choose the type of manuscript you wish to submit. You may choose between Original Article, Brief Communication, Review Article, Special Article, Editorial or Letter to the Editors. Manuscripts must be written in English. The table below shows the maximum number of words, references and tables/figures for each manuscript type.

• Original articles: These should describe fully, but as concisely as possible, the results of original research, containing all the relevant information for those who wish to reproduce the research or assess the results and conclusions.
• Review articles: These should be systematic reviews and should include critical assessments of literature and data sources, critically reviewing and evaluating existing knowledge on a designated topic, in addition to commenting on studies by other authors. The search strategy and selection process should be described in detail, according to PRISMA or other appropriate guidelines.
• Brief communications: Original but shorter manuscripts addressing topics of interest in the field of psychiatry, with preliminary results or results of immediate relevance.
• Special articles: Special articles address specific current topics relevant to clinical practice and are less comprehensive than review articles. These should be non-systematic reviews and should include critical assessments of literature and data sources, critically reviewing and evaluating existing knowledge on a designated topic, in addition to commenting on studies by other authors.
• Letters to the Editors: Letters can contain reports of unusual cases, comments on relevant scientific topics, critiques of editorial policy, or opinions on the contents of the journal (maximum of four authors).
• Editorials: Critical and in-depth commentary invited by the Editors or written by a person with known expertise in the topic.

Title: You can copy and paste this from your manuscript, but do not delete the title from the manuscript file. Make sure there are no line breaks in the title. Titles should be concise (max. 50 words), specific, and informative. Avoid using abbreviations.

Abstract: You can copy and paste this from your manuscript, but do not delete the abstract from the manuscript file. If submitting a structured abstract, add a line space between each section.

Step 2: File upload 
Click the Select File... button to view a directory of your computer. Navigate to where your files are stored. Submit the manuscript file (Article File) preferably in Word format. Your manuscript will be converted to a PDF during the submission process. Do not include line numbers as these will be added to your manuscript during the PDF conversion process.

Step 3: Attributes
You will be asked to list 1 to 5 keywords that describe the main topics of your manuscript. Please use MeSH terms only.

Step 4: Authors & Institutions 
List all authors by full name: First Name (Given) and Last Name (Family or Surname). You will also be asked to indicate authors' institutions and a valid e-mail address for each author. Note that all communications concerning manuscript submissions and authorship forms are done through e-mail. An ORCID iD has to be informed for the submitting author (coauthors optional). Review author list and confirm authorship order.

Postal/mail address and telephone number for the corresponding author should be included only in the title page (see below).

Step 5: Reviewers 
You will be asked to indicate 5 potential reviewers for your manuscript. These should be researchers who have a publication record, clinical or research experience in the topic of your manuscript. Inform first and last name, e-mail address and institution. Suggested reviewers should not be from the same institution or research group as authors. Also, we advise against indicating collaborators from previous publications among suggested reviewers. Editors will consider your suggestions at their discretion. If you wish, you may also oppose specific reviewers for your manuscript.

Step 6: Details & Comments 
Write a cover letter to the Editors explaining the nature of your article and why the authors believe the manuscript should be published by the Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry. Make sure to mention whether the authors have published or submitted any related papers from the same study elsewhere. You may choose to upload a file or write the cover letter in the designated box.

In this step, you will also be required to inform the following:

• Funding: When applicable, disclose information regarding funding agency and grant/award number.
• Number of words and references
• Conflict of Interest: Each author's conflicts of interest and financial disclosures, including declarations of no financial interest, must be included in this form. If the manuscript is accepted for publication, authors will be required to sign an Author Agreement form, which will be mailed directly to the corresponding author.

Step 7: Review & Submit
Carefully review each step of your submission. The system will point with a red X whether there are any incomplete parts. Once you are ready, click on the View Proof buttons to view the individual and/or merged HTML and PDF files created, as well as the MEDLINE proof. You will be asked to review and approve the PDF of your article files to ensure that you are satisfied with how your manuscript is displayed for editors and reviewers. Confirm that your manuscript information is complete and correct any errors. When you are satisfied that the submission is complete, click the Submit button. We will not begin the editorial review process until this final step is completed.

Title page: Page 1 should contain full title, authors' names, their departments and institutions, including the city and country of origin. Please also include a running title with a maximum of 50 characters (letters and spaces). The full name, telephone number, fax number, e-mail address and full postal address of the corresponding author should be stated.

Abstract: Page 2 should present a structured abstract (not exceeding 200 words) with the following sections: Objective, Methods, Results, and Conclusion (check table with abstract requirements for each manuscript type, above). Please indicate three to five keywords in strict accordance with Medical Subject Headings. Do not include an abstract in Portuguese or any language other than English. If applicable, inform the clinical trial registration number at the end of the abstract (see below).

Clinical Trial Registration: The Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry supports the clinical trial registration policies of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the ICMJE, recognizing the importance of such initiatives for the registration and disclosure of trial results to the international community through open access. According to this recommendation and to the BIREME/OPAS/OMS guidelines for journals indexed in the LILACS and SciELO databases, the Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry will only accept for publication clinical trials that have been registered in Clinical Trials Registries that meet the WHO and ICMJE requirements.

Main text: The manuscript file (main text) must be written in English, double-spaced throughout, and should contain the following items in this order: title page, abstract, manuscript text, acknowledgment section, references, figure legends, and tables. Use 10-, 11-, or 12-point font size. All terms or abbreviations should be spelled out at first mention in the text and also in table/figure legends. All units should be metric. Avoid Roman numerals.

The Methods section should include information on ethics committee approval and informed consent procedures, as well as compliance with institutional and national standards for the care and use of laboratory animals, where applicable.

Reference list: Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of their references and for correct in-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. References cited only in tables or figure legends should be numbered in accordance with the first citation of the table/figure in the text.

Please observe the style of the examples below. To include manuscripts accepted, but not published, inform the abbreviated title of the journal followed by "Forthcoming" and the expected year of publication. Information from manuscripts not yet accepted should be cited only in the text as personal communication. Reference accuracy is the responsibility of the authors. Journal titles should be abbreviated in accordance with Index Medicus.

Examples:

• Journal article: Coelho FM, Pinheiro RT, Silva RA, Quevedo LA, Souza LD, Castelli RD, et al. Major depressive disorder during teenage pregnancy: socio-demographic, obstetric and psychosocial correlates. Braz J Psychiatry. 2013;35:51-6.
  List all authors when six or fewer. When there are seven or more, list only the first six authors and add "et al."
• Book: Gabbard GO. Gabbard's treatment of psychiatric disorders. 4th ed. Arlington: American Psychiatric Publishing; 2007.
• Book chapter: Kennedy SH, Rizvi SJ, Giacobbe P. The nature and treatment of therapy-resistant depression. In: Cryan JF, Leonard BE, editors. Depression: from psychopathology to pharmacotherapy. Basel: Karger; 2010. p. 243-53.
• Theses and dissertations: Trigeiro A. Central nervous system corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) systems contribute to increased anxiety-like behavior during opioid withdrawal: an analysis of neuroanatomical substrates [dissertation]. San Diego: University of California; 2011.

Tables: Tables should be submitted preferably in Word format, but Excel files are also accepted. If using Excel, do not place tables on individual spreadsheets within the same file because only the first sheet will be converted. Whenever possible, tables should be appended to the end of the manuscript text file (after any figure legends) instead of being uploaded as separate files. All figures/tables should clarify/complement rather than repeat the text; their number should be kept to a minimum. All illustrations should be submitted on separate pages, following the order in which they appear in the text and numbered consecutively using Arabic numerals. All tables and figures should include descriptive legends, and abbreviations should be defined. Any tables or figures extracted from previously published works should be accompanied by written permission for reproduction from the current copyright holder at the time of submission.

Figures: Acceptable figure file formats are AI, BMP, DOC, EMF, EPS, JPG, PDF, PPT, PSD, TIF, WMF, and XLS. Figures can be included in the manuscript, but preferably should be uploaded as separate files. If your manuscript is accepted, you may be asked to provide high-resolution, uncompressed TIF files.

Online-only supplementary material: Online-only material should be submitted in a single Word document with pages numbered consecutively. Each element included in the online-only material should be cited in the text of the main manuscript (e.g., Table S1 available as online-only supplementary material) and numbered in order of citation in the text (e.g., Table S1, Table S2, Figure S1, Figure S2, Supplementary Methods). The first page of the online-only document should list the number and title of each element included in the document.

If you need additional help, you can click on the help signs that appear throughout the system. A help dialogue box will pop up with context-sensitive help. If you have questions or problems with your submission, please contact the editorial office by e-mail at editorial@abpbrasil.org.br.

After you approve your manuscript, you are finished with the submission process. To check the status of your manuscript throughout the editorial review process:

1. Log into the system with your username and password.
2. Select the Author Dashboard on your Home Page.
3. Select Submitted Manuscripts or another category and check manuscript status

The manuscript submission and editorial review process is as follows:

1. An author submits a manuscript.
2. The manuscript is verified by the editorial office, screened for plagiarism using a built-in tool available in the submission system, and then assigned to an editor.
3. The editor reviews the manuscript and makes an initial decision based on manuscript quality and editorial priorities, usually either to send the manuscript to peer reviewers or to reject the manuscript at that point so that the author can submit it to another journal. The selection of manuscripts for publication is based on their originality, relevance of the topic, methodological quality, and compliance with these instructions. 
4. All manuscripts considered for publication are peer-reviewed by at least two anonymous external referees selected by the editors. For those manuscripts sent to peer reviewers, the editors make a decision based on editorial priorities, manuscript quality, reviewer recommendations, and perhaps discussion with fellow editors. At this point, the decision is usually to request a revised manuscript, reject the manuscript, or provisionally accept the manuscript.
5. The decision letter is sent to the author.
6. Revised manuscripts are sent back to reviewers for reassessment. Based on the reviewers’ comments, the editors make the final decision, which may be to request a new revision, reject or accept the manuscript.

If you cannot submit online for any reason or have other questions about manuscript submission, please contact the editorial office at editorial@abp.org.br.

Whenever an editor or other person involved in the editorial process decides to submit a manuscript to the journal, or has any conflict of interest with a submitted manuscript (e.g., with respect to the authors or their work, or a manuscript from their own department or institution, etc.), they will not participate in the decision-making process. In these cases, a colleague in the editorial office will manage the manuscript and handle the peer review independently of the author/editor.

Corrections and retractions

Errors of fact detected after publication will be handled as recommended by the ICMJE. Briefly, a corrigendum will be published, along with a corrected version of the article detailing the corrections made (the original version will indicate the existence of a more recent, corrected version). Articles containing errors serious enough to invalidate a paper's results and conclusions will be retracted.