Submissions

Author Guidelines

SUBMISSION

Articles will be submitted exclusively through the Journal´s online management system. (www.revmedicina.sld.cu)

TYPES OF ARTICLES AND SECTIONS

The Journal publishes only eight kinds of articles, distributed in the following sections:

• Editorials

• Original articles

• Review articles

• Clinical case reports

• Opinion articles

• Special articles

• Short communications

• Letters to the editor

Other types of articles could be included as per consideration of the Editorial Board regardless of not being indexed on databases.

METHODOLOGICAL REQUIREMENTS COMMON TO ALL TYPES OF ARTICLES

• In case of a previously published manuscript, authors are obligated to advise the time and place of said publication and where it is available (preprints).

Title: It will not include acronyms or abbreviations and, should names of institutions are to be used, they must be the official and updated ones.

Authors: Full names of all authors must be included and initials are to be avoided. All professional titles, scientific, academic and research degrees, as well as teaching ranks, are to be added respectively. Each author will appear on a separate line.

Each author must provide their ORCID number. This will be mandatory. (www.orcid.org)

Full name and institutional affiliation.

• Authors are to provide the primary registrations of the data if requested by the editors.
• Declaration that each person mentioned on the Acknowledgement section authorizes to be mentioned.

Bibliographical references. They must be placed in superscript, without parenthesis or brackets and after the punctuation mark. This Journal complies with all the norms showing on recommendations for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals (Vancouver style). http://bvs.sld.cu/revistas/recursos/vancouver_2012.pdf

Images and charts: They must be presented on JPG format; in case of photographs, 300 dpi. Graphics and diagrams must be presented on an editable format. Tables, graphics and diagrams are not accepted as images (JPG format).

They all must have the adequate quality and will not exceed the 800 pixels.

Ethical considerations: Submitted researches must abide by all ethical declarations for human and animal studies. (Declaration of Helsinki) http://bvs.sld.cu/revistas/recursos/helsinki.pdf

The article must not contain, without proper citation, fragments of texts from previously published papers or on the process of publication on journals or other platforms.

Any ethical violation related to the document will be resolved using the protocols established by the International Committee on Scientific Publication Ethics (COPE).

(http://publicationethics.org/files/All_Flowcharts_Spanish_0.pdf )

Clinical trials: Clinical trials must have their proper registration number from a Clinical Trial Registry. This number must be verifiable and therefore it will appear on the source. Moreover, the trials must comply with the review parameters as per the CONSORT international guideline. http://bvs.sld.cu/revistas/recursos/CONSORT.pdf

Drafting: The submitted document must be clear and coherent as to its writing, syntax and spelling. The meaning of used acronyms, abbreviations and symbols will be described. The use of the latter ones should not be excessive as it encumbers the fluid reading and comprehension of the document.

Manuscript format: The articles will be presented on a Word text electronic format with an Arial 12 font and 1.5 spacing. Compressed documents are not permitted in any format.

Copyrights: This Journal is available on open access and without restrictions, in compliance with the open access international policy. The contents on the Journal may be utilized for nonprofit purposes if and when the primary source is referenced.

Conflict of interest: Authors are obligated to declare the presence or not of conflict of interest regarding the presented research.

THIS JOURNAL DOES NOT CHARGES FOR PUBLICATION (APC)

This Journal operates under https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/deed.en.

DESCRIPTIONS AND SPECIFIC INSTRUCTIONS OF THE SECTIONS FOR EVERY TYPE OF ARTICLE

^* Maximum word number

DESCRIPTION AND SPECIFIC INTRUCTIONS OF THE SECTIONS OF EACH TYPE OF ARTICLE

1. I.                   EDITORIALS

They express positions and/or views regarding a subject matter to be broached on its respective Journal issue or about a circumstantial scientific situation. The latter may be current or controversial, in relation to any of the specialties covered by the Journal.

They will be upon request of the Editorial Board to certain personalities or requested by the author, which must be approved by the Editorial Board. Their length will not exceed the 1500 words and it may include, or not, bibliographical references.

II. - ORIGINAL ARTICLES

They will not exceed 4500 words, including bibliographical references.

An authorship contribution list must be inserted at the end of text and after the bibliographical references, regardless of the numbers of contributors. A CRediT Taxonomy will be used to identify the authorship roles. In order to be considered the author of an article, the person must have reviewed and approved the final draft of the document to be published. The Editorial Board of the Journal reserves the right to consider the effects of the authorship, based on the research characteristics. Authors will be advised accordingly during the assessment process. It is not ethical to include authors only because they are part of the work team, their interpersonal relationship or other relations.

Authorship roles will be identified in the following order, including every author as per their corresponding role and omitting the nonapplicable ones: (Credit Taxonomy):

Conceptualization: Ideas, formulation or evolution of the objectives and the general goals of the investigation.

Data curation: Management activities for note-taking (producing metadata), data cleansing and keeping them for the research (including programming codes if necessary for the interpretation of the data) for both its initial use and later reutilization.

Formal analysis: Implementation of statistical, mathematical and computer techniques, or other formal ones, to analyze or synthesize the data of the study.

Fundraising: Acquiring financial support for the development of the project leading to the publication.

Investigation: Execution of an investigation and an investigative process, carrying out specifically the experiments or the collection of data and/or evidences.

Methodology: Development or design of the methodology; model creation.

Project management: Management responsibility, coordination of the planning and the execution of the research activity.

Resources: Supply of study materials, reagents, patients, laboratory samples, animals, equipment, computer science resources and other analytical tools.

Software: Programming, software development, computer program designing, usage of computer codes and supporting algorithms, and testing of code components already in existence.

Supervision: Responsibility of supervision and leadership in the planning and execution of the investigative activity, including the participation as an external tutor of the research team.

Validation: Validation, either as a part of the activity or in an independent fashion, of the replication/general reproducibility of the results/experiments and other results of investigation.

Visualization: Preparation, creation and/or presentation of the published article, specifically the visualization/presentation of the data.

Writing the original draft: Preparation, creation and/or presentation of the published paper, specifically writing the initial draft (including the correct translation).

Drafting, revision and editing: Preparation, creation and/or presentation of the published article by the members of the original research team, specifically the critical revision, commentary or revision, including the pre- and post-publication stages.

Title

 It must be in correspondence with the subject of the article. It must be concise, understandable and informative; written in the language of the article. It must not exceed 15 words. It must not include acronyms or abbreviations. The title must not include the name of the institution where the research was conducted or the period in which it was carried out. This is presented in the Methods.

Abstract

Structured by sections. In this case, it must have the following structure: Introduction-Objective(s)-Methods-Results-Conclusions. It cannot exceed 250 words and it will offer an adequate idea of what the research is about. It must be submitted in Spanish and English (abstract).

Keywords

They must be concrete and representative of the semantic content of the document, which will apply for both the primary and secondary contents. There must be a minimum amount of three keywords. It is recommended to use the thesaurus DeCs. (Descriptors in Health Sciences) http://decs.bvs.br/E/homepagee.htm

Introduction

Present brief, clear and appropriate antecedents. Basis of the scientific problem. Describing the objective(s) of the research in a clear manner.

Methods

Define the type of research or study, period and place. Define the population or group of study, as well as the inclusion, exclusion and elimination criteria. Describe, if required, the criteria and the basis for sample selection.

The analyzed variables must be described in a clear fashion, as well as the information collection, processing and analysis methods utilized. The statistical method must be appropriate to the type of study and it must comply with the principle that it can be reproduced by other researchers. State the particular ethical aspects of the study.

Results

Presentation in accordance with the objectives of the paper. Appropriate use of the statistical graphs (when required). Images and tables must highlight relevant results without repeating information from one image to the other. A maximum of five tables, images or statistical graphs are allowed, each one with its consecutive numbers and properly identified.

Discussion

In the discussion, a critical analysis of the research results is carried out in light of the studies published by other domestic and international authors. The scope and limitations of the results are to be explained. The possible applications and generalization of the results are to be explained.

Conclusions

They must possess an adequate degree of generalization. They will respond to the objectives of the research and will be in correspondence with the results and the discussion. The results are not to be repeated. Conclusions will be drafted in a paragraph form at the end of the discussion.

Bibliographical references

They must be the necessary ones and they must be well structured (with a superscript and after the punctuation mark). Their 50 percent must correspond to papers published in the last five years. Relevant national and international literature is to be presented.

Tables and images

The title of the table must be in correspondence with its content. The presented information must justify the need for its existence. Information already pointed out in the text is not to be repeated. The images presented will only be the relevant and necessary ones. Image captions/footers should correspond appropriately with said images.

Graphs and charts

They must be editable, as the editor should be able to work within them, if necessary, without having to remake them.

Other aspects

For longitudinal observational studies (cohort, case control), the recommendations to follow correspond to the STROBE (Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) initiative, available at http://www.strobe-statement.org.

For studies on predictive models, it is recommended to adhere to the TRIPOD (The Transparent Reporting of a multivariable prediction model for Individual Prognosis Or Diagnosis), available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25560730

For studies on the validity of diagnostic tests, the STARD guidelines should be followed: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5128957/pdf/bmjopen-2016-012799.pdf.

For clinical trials, the CONSORT Guideline should be used, available at: https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/consort/

For qualitative studies, the COREQ guidelines should be followed, available at: https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/coreq/

For articles that constitute meta-analyses, the PRISMA guideline is required, available at: http://www.prisma-statement.org/

The submission of your publication proposal must be of adequate quality in terms of writing and spelling, as well as comply with the ethical principles of research.

Articles that do not comply with these conditions will be rejected immediately. Authors may do the necessary corrections and submit them again through the same system, so that the Editorial Board, if it deems it necessary, authorizes the arbitration process.

III. - REVIEW ARTICLES

It will not exceed 5000 words, not including the bibliographic references. No more than three authors are allowed.

Title

It must be in direct correspondence with the subject matter of the article. It must be concise, understandable, informative; written in the language of the article. It must not exceed 15 words. It must not include acronyms or abbreviations.

Abstract

Structured by sections. In this case, it must have the following structure: Introduction-Objectives-Methods- Conclusions. It cannot exceed 250 words and it will offer an adequate idea of what the research is about. It must be submitted in Spanish and English.

Keywords

They must be concrete and representative of the semantic content of the document, both for the main and secondary contents. At least three keywords or phrases. It is recommended to use the DeCs Thesaurus (Descriptors in Health Sciences) http://decs.bvs.br/E/homepagee.htm

Introduction

Present a brief, clear and appropriate background with bibliographic support. It should be a topic of importance and relevance to science. Justify the scientific problem that originates the review. Clearly describe the objectives of the paper.

Methods

Criteria and justification for the selection of the sources consulted. Identify the search engines used for information collection. Period required for the review.

Development

Exposition in accordance with the objectives of the work. Images and tables highlighting relevant aspects without repeating information. Interpretation of the results indicated in the literature consulted. Contrast of the differences and coincidences of the studies analyzed. Carry out a critical analysis of the study in the light of works published by other researchers. Describe the possible applicability and generalization of the research results. Include new aspects to be considered (if necessary). Point out or highlight the limitations or contributions of the review.

Conclusions

Respond to the objectives of the study. State clear, concrete and pertinent conclusions.

Bibliographical references

They must be the necessary and well structures (with a superscript and after the punctuation mark). Their 70% must correspond to works published in the last five years. Relevant national and international literature on the subject should be represented.

Other Aspects

Systematic reviews should follow the guidelines of the PRISMA guide, available at: http://www.prisma-statement.org/

The submission of your publication proposal must be of adequate quality in terms of writing and spelling, as well as comply with the ethical principles of research.

Articles that do not comply with these conditions will be rejected immediately.

IV. - Clinical case reports

These are articles that allow the author(s) to expose the experience in the care of patients with rare conditions or with difficult and laborious diagnostic and/or therapeutic procedures and whose results represent significant contributions to medical care.

They should not exceed 3500 words.

Title:

It should express the diagnosis of the condition or the clinical expression of the condition, if it is the relevant aspect to be exposed.

Abstract

Brief explanation that motivates the publication of the case, its frequency, the main clinical manifestations of the case, as well as the results of the investigations for its diagnosis, therapeutic procedures and evolution of the patient. Up to three similar cases treated by the authors may be reported.

Introduction

A description of the condition should be made, which may include aspects of its history, first reports or descriptions of the same, further detailing its clinical and epidemiological characteristics, as well as other particular data of the same or aspects that highlight the importance of its publication.

Clinical case

The fundamental elements of the clinical history of the patient closely related to the condition that has motivated its publication will be presented, highlighting the history, clinical manifestations and significant data of the physical examination, as well as the results of the paraclinical examinations that support the diagnosis and evolution of the disease. References will be made to the images or illustrations provided in the description of the complementary studies, to be properly referenced. The therapeutic measures applied and their results will be detailed, as well as the evolution of the patients.

Discussion

In this section of the presentation of clinical cases, the authors will be able to expose their criteria regarding the importance of the condition that has motivated their publication, to refer to other publications, to make valuations as to the importance of the clinical data and results of the investigations, and to analyze the therapeutic response and evolution of the patient.

Bibliography

Bibliographic references should not be more than 15, with 50% corresponding to the last five years; they should follow the norms established in these instructions to the author and should be properly structured according to these norms.

Other aspects

For the report of clinical cases, the CARE guidelines will be followed, available at: https://www.care-statement.org/

V. - Opinion articles

These are documents proposed by a health professional in which he/she focuses on a situation or issue related to a certain problem that he/she considers may be affecting the development of positive medical care, undergraduate teaching and specialty training. It must be approved by the Editorial Board of the Journal, which does not mean that they share the opinions given by the author. Its length will vary according to its importance and update. They shall not exceed 4000 words.

VI. - Special article

This category of article corresponds to a document included as such by the Editorial Board due to the importance of its contribution. They can be documents written on request or initiative of the author and their length is variable, depending on the consideration of the Editorial Board on the depth of the subject.

VII. - Short communications

Short communications are scientific articles consisting of a structured abstract (see section on original articles), in Spanish and English; keywords; an introduction, of a maximum of one page; the material and method, where the essential elements for the development of the research are presented; the result(s), in one or two tables or graphs; and a discussion of one page that expresses the essential elements. Finally, the authors should include the bibliographical references, which should not exceed 15 citations.

VIII. - Letters to the editor

Documents expressing the ideas, positions or disagreements of the authors in relation to some of the contents published in the Journal or topics of the specialty will be received after being assessed by the Editorial Board. Letters that comply with the ethical principles of scientific publication will be published. The arguments presented must have their corresponding bibliographic support according to the norms adopted by the Journal.

IX. - Images in medicine

This is not a scientific article per se. In this section, interesting images directly related to the clinic will be put in context for discussion. The author may submit up to three images related to the same topic. They may have a minimum possible amount of text describing them.

MANUSCRIPT ASSESSMENT SYSTEM

All articles will be submitted to a double-blind peer-review process. The reviewers will receive absolutely no identifying information about the origin of the article. Authors will also receive no reference as to who is assessing their manuscript. The assessment period will not take more than 60 days. Within this period, the authors will be informed about the Editorial Board decision.

If, for any reason, the author does not wish to publish his/her article, he/she should communicate this in writing to the Journal's management in order to avoid an ethical conflict.

General aspects of bibliographical references

References should be numbered as they appear in the text and should be identified with Arabic numerals in exponential form within the text itself, after the punctuation mark and without parentheses or brackets. Citations of relevant and updated published documents should be included. Mention of personal communications and unpublished documents should be avoided; they should only be mentioned in the text in parentheses, if necessary.

50% of the bibliographical references must correspond to what has been published on the subject in the last five years. In the case of updating articles, the bibliographical references must represent 70% or more of what has been published in the last five years.

All authors of the cited text should be listed; if it has seven or more authors, the first six should be mentioned, followed by "et al." Journal titles will be abbreviated by the Index Medicus. (List of journals indexed in Index Medicus) No element should be highlighted with the use of capital letters or underlined. The arrangement of bibliographic elements and the use of punctuation marks established by Vancouver style should be observed.

Examples of some of the main cases are given below:

JOURNALS

1. Author/s. Title of the article. International abbreviation of the journal year; volume (number): initial-final page of the article.

Diez Jarrilla JL, Cienfuegos Vázquez M, Suárez Salvador E. Respiratory adventitial noises: confounding factors. Med Clin (Barc) 1997;109(16):632-4.

JOURNALS IN ELECTRONIC FORMAT

2. Author. Title. Abbreviated journal name [type of support] year [date of access]; volume (number): pages or length indicator. Available at:

Transmission of Hepatitis C Virus infection associated infusion therapy for hemophilia. MMWR [serial on the Internet]. 1997 July 4 [cited 11 Jan 2001];46(26). Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00048303.htm

BOOKS

3. Author/s. Title of the book. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; year.

Jiménez C, Riaño D, Moreno E, Jabbour N. Advances in abdominal organ transplantation. Madrid: Cuadecon; 1997.

The first edition does not need to be stated. The edition is always written in Arabic numerals and abbreviation: 2nd ed. If the paper consists of more than one volume, it should be cited after the title of the book Vol. 3.

BOOK CHAPTER

4. Author/s of the chapter. Title of the chapter. In: Director/Coordinator/Literary editor of the book. Title of the book. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; year. Chapter start page-chapter end page.

Rader DJ, Hobbs HH. Disorders of lipoprotein metabolism. In: Barnes PJ. Longo DL, Fauci AS, et al, editors. Harrison principles of internal medicine. Vol 2. 18th ed. Mexico: McGraw-Hill; 2012. p. 3145-3161.

MONOGRAPH ON THE INTERNET

5. Author(s). Title [Internet]. Site name; year [date cited]. Available at: URL.

Pérez Pacheco Y, Peraza Rodríguez G. Fruit consumption in the diabetic patient's diet. Antidiabetic Center of Cuba; 2013 [Mar 25, 2014]. Available at: http://www.diabetescuba.sld.cu/index

In order to facilitate the preparation of bibliographic references, authors are advised to consult the Uniform Requirements for Manuscritos Enviados a Revistas Biomédicas.

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check that their submitted papers meet all of the requisites shown below. Submissions that do not meet these guidelines will be returned to authors.

1.         The submission has not been previously published or previously submitted to another journal (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the editor).

2.         The submitted file is in Microsoft Word format.

3. Web addresses have been added for references where possible.

4.         The text is single-spaced; the font size is 12; italics are used instead of underlining (except for URLs); and all illustrations, images and tables are in the appropriate place within the text and not at the end of the text.

5.         The text complies with the bibliographic and stylistic requirements indicated in the guidelines for authors, which can be found in About the Journal.

6.         If you are submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, you need to make sure that the instructions at assuring blind revision have been followed.