ISSN 0101-6083 printed version
ISSN 1806-938X online version

INSTRUCTIONS TO THE AUTHORS

• Scope and policy
• Manuscript preparation

Revista de Psiquiatria Clínica was launched in March 1972 by A.C. Pacheco e Silva, Fernando de O. Bastos, J. Carvalhal Ribas e J.R. de Albuquerque Fortes.

Our mission is to provide mental health care professionals with relevant clinical information and clinically-oriented research in the field of General Psychiatry.

Electronic submissions are welcome, and manuscripts in Word for Windows format can be emailed to the address gattaz@usp.br, along with a submission letter to the Editor. Authors will be informed upon receipt. Hard copies of manuscripts submitted by regular mail will not be returned to authors.

From the Issue 35(2);2009, Revista de Psiquiatria Clínica will adopt the Vancouver style for the references inclusion.

Please check item IV of Instruction to Authors for more details.

Review Process

Papers, except invited reviews, will be evaluated by at least two external experts. The authors will be notified as soon as possible whether a contribution is accepted for publication in the form that it was submitted, acceptable after a revision (which, in general, will be reviewed again), or rejected.
Structure of the manuscripts

Original Papers:

Manuscripts should not exceed 3.500 words, a maximum number of six tables and/or figures and 30 references

I. Title page should include: a) a concise and clear title; b) names of the authors (first name, middle initials, and family name); c) name and address of the Institution where the study was conducted; d) the main affiliation of authors; e) complete address of the corresponding author, including phone, fax, and e-mail.
II. An abstract of no more than 200 words should be provided in single paragraph format. Up to five relevant keywords should follow the abstract. Please refer to the Index Medicus for the designation of key-words. Abstracts must describe in brief the main strengths of the study. Structured abstracts are necessary, and should be presented as follows: Background (why is the study relevant?), Objectives (which hypotheses were tested?), Methods (how, and in what representative sample, was the study performed?), Results (the main findings) and Conclusions (how do the author interpret the data).
III. Main text: these five entries should also guide the structure of the manuscript, being Background and Objectives natural elements of the Introduction, which should contain a very brief review of the literature on the topic and the aims of the study. In the Methods section, the authors should describe the sample (including demographics), the instruments for diagnostic and clinical assessments, laboratory procedures, statistical methods, etc.
IV. References cited in the text should be organized in the Vancouver style, ie., by placing the citation numbers in the text, each corresponding to consecutive arabic numbers allocated to the respective source as it is referred to for the first time. In the Reference list, authors' names, article title, journal name, and publication details should be included in order of citation in the text, according to the Vancouver style. Reference list should be double-spaced. Journal names should be abbreviated according to Index Medicus. For references with multiple authors please include the family name and initials for the first six followed by et al., otherwise all authors must be cited. Book chapters and journal papers should be cited as follows:

Journal papers:

Gattaz WF, Levy R, Cairns N, Maras A. Distúrbios do metabolismo de fosfolipídeos na doença de Alzheimer. J Bras Psiquiatr. 1996;45:345-9.

Book chapters:

Gattaz WF, Kohlmeyer K, Gasser T. Computed tomographic scans in schizophrenia. In: Häfner H, Gattaz WF, editors. Search for the Causes of Schizophrenia. Berlin: Springer Verlag; 1990. p. 242-56.
For additional details on the format of references, please refer to www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html.

V. Tables. Tables should be consecutively numbered with Arabic numbers in the text, and presented in separate pages after the Reference List.
VI. Figures. Figures should restricted both in number and size to the strictly necessary in order to clarify the text contents. Figures should be consecutively numbered in the text. Color illustrations are accepted, but additional costs will be forwarded to authors.
VII. Legends. Each table and figure should include a legend with the necessary information for its thorough understanding. For that purpose, a short title followed by a concise explanation of the table or figure is encouraged. However, legends should not replicate contents in the text. Abbreviations and symbols that appear in tables or figures should be referred to, even though already cited in the text.
VIII. Patient photography: We do no encourage the publication of photography of patients. Whenever indispensable for the comprehension of the article, written informed consent must be signed by the patient or respective caregiver, and patient details must be removed from the illustration.
IX. Reprints can be requested at reduced cost after the acceptance of the paper for publication (please ask for pricing and details).

Reviews

Reviews of the literature should contain between 4,000 and 5,000 words, six tables or figures, and there are no limits for the references, although is recommended to include only the most important ones; in addition to abstract and five keywords. The main text should be structured in the following sections: Introduction (background and context), Methods (criteria used to select the body of references on which the review was based), Results (the main findings of the review), Discussion, Conclusions, Acknowledgements and References.

Letters and Points of View