General instruction for submission

Manuscript File Format

Acceptable manuscripts' file formats include Microsoft Word and WordPerfect. Do not submit your manuscripts in PDF format.

Text Style Guide

Use A4 size. Text should be left-justified. Use 12-point font size. Use preferably Times and New Romans font. Use 1.5 line spacing. Use line and page number. Use Initial Upper Case for Title, Headings and Subheadings, Keywords, Affiliations, and Authors’ Name. Make the titles, headings and subheadings bold or use different colour. Use footnote at the end of manuscript before references (no footnote for each page). Make the files anonymous; please find the guide for Office 2013 below:

Preparing Title Page and Main Manuscript

Title Page

The title page should contain the following components:

• Manuscript Title: please keep it as precise and concise as possible and ensure it reflects the subject matter
• Corresponding author's name, qualification, affiliation, telephone number, and email address
• Each author's affiliation, email address, and qualifications
• Use 3 to 6 keywords to describe your manuscripts subject
• Acknowledgements: in this section, all sources of funding for research must be explicitly stated, including grant numbers if appropriate. Other financial and material support, specifying the nature of the support, should be acknowledged as well.
• Authors' contributions: in this section, you must specify explicitly who did what based on the substantive intellectual contribution made to the article. It should be noted that any changes should be made by completing the Change of Authorship Form before an acceptance is granted on the manuscript.
• Conflict of interest: if your work is sponsored by a funder with a proprietary or financial interest in the outcome, please clearly state this in your title page.
• Ethical issues: if your manuscript is an original article you should name the ethics committee that has approved the study.
• A word count of the full article

Important Note: While submitting your manuscript please bear in mind to upload the Authorship From as well (this form must be completed and signed by corresponding author).

Main Manuscript Components

The manuscript should follow through these sections: Abstract (no more than 350 words), Key Messages (only for Original Articles), Background, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, and References. However, it may be appropriate to combine the discussion and conclusion sections in some articles. Tables and Figures should be inserted within the text as close as possible to where they are referenced. Authors should not upload them as separate files. Please add page numbers and line numbers for your manuscript.

- Abstract

Include a structured abstract of no more than 350 words for original articles and reviews. An abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. It should state briefly and clearly the purpose and setting of the research, the principal findings and major conclusions, and the article's contribution to knowledge. Abstracts are not required for correspondence, and letters to editors.

- Keywords

Up to 6 keywords are entered separately into the online system during submission, and should accurately reflect the content of the article. Abbreviations/acronyms could be used with their expansions. The keywords will be used for indexing purposes.

- Formulas

• Equations should be typed only in MathType (Download the software from http://www.dessci.com/en/products/mathtype/).
• Graphical objects should not be used.
• Your equations should be editable.
• If you have used built-in equation editing tool in Microsoft Word, the equations will become unusable during the typesetting process. To resolve this problem, please re-key your equations using MathType.
• Long equations should be set off from the text and numbered sequentially.
• If you cannot avoid using many equations or schemes, you can collect them in a table of equations and shot them as a framed figure to avoid typesetting errors.

- Tables

• Should be prepared left to right and cell-based (i.e., created in Word with the Tables tool).
• Table number and caption always appear above the table. Leave 2 line spaces between the table and the caption.

• Should be editable and upright on the page, not on sideways.
• Should be prepared with real rows and columns and not aligned with tabs, returns, or spaces.
• Multi-part tables with varying numbers of columns or multiple footnotes should be organized as separate tables.
• Should be plain with NO colors, shading, or graphics.
• Should not contain inserted text boxes, tables within tables or cells within cells.
• Should be cited in numerical order upon their first mention.
• Symbols and abbreviations should be defined immediately below the table, followed by essential brief description.
• All tables should be inserted within the text as close as possible to where they are referenced. Authors should not upload them as separate files.

- Figures/illustrations

• All figures/images must be cited within the main text in numerical order.
• All figures/images must be centered. Figure number and legend always appear below the figure. Leave 2 line spaces between the figure and the legend.
• Figures must be prepared in one of the following formats: Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) for photography or microscopy, Encapsulated PostScript (EPS) for illustrations or diagrams, Tagged Image File Format (TIFF), EPS, or PS. Files prepared with Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw or Adobe Photoshop should be uploaded in these native file formats.
• All digitized images must be of high quality; that is, resolutions of at least 300 dpi for color figures, 600 dpi for greyscales and 1200 dpi for line arts.
• Histograms should be prepared in a simple, two-dimensional format, with no background grid.
• Make sure that any specific patient/hospital details are removed or blacked out (e.g., X-rays, MRI scans, etc).
• If photographs of patients are used, they should not be identifiable. However, do not use a black bar to obscure a patient’s identity.
• Original data from which the images were prepared should be available, as the editors may request to see these data (e.g., Office, SPSS and other line art images).
• Lettering in figures (e.g., labeling of axes) should be in lower-case type, with the first letter capitalized and no full stop. All text should be in a sans-serif typeface, preferably Arial with size 8 pt.
• Avoid using the touch-up tools, such as cloning and healing tools in Photoshop, or any feature that deliberately obscures manipulations.
• Graphics downloaded from Web pages should not be used.
• Please remember that Vector drawing data is absent from these files: png, jpeg, tiff, or bmp. Subsequently resaving any of these files as a PDF or EPS will not produce a vector drawing in these files. Please supply the original EPS, ai, or PDF file versions of artwork.
• Figures/images should be inserted within the text as close as possible to where they are referenced. Authors should not upload them as separate files.

Acceptable digital formats are:

1. Corel Draw
2. Adobe Illustrator
3. Unlocked PDFs created from a vector program
4. Microsoft PowerPoint, Excel, and Word as long as graphs are not placed into these programs as rasterized images

Not acceptable file formats are:

1. Canvas
2. DeltaGraph
3. Tex
4. ChemDraw
5. SigmaPlot

Note: Convert these files to PDF, EPS or postscript formats before submission.

Figure requirements in brief:

	Color mode	RGB (8 bit/channel) or grayscale only
	Multi-panel figures	Figure file must contain all parts in one file
	White space	Crop out excess from around image content
	File size	Under 10 MB
	Orientation	Vertical, not turned sideways
TIFF	Resolution	300-600 dpi
	Layers	Flattened, no layers
	Alpha channels	No alpha channels
	Compression	LZW required
	Background color	White, not transparent
EPS	Text	Mustbe converted to outlines or saved with embedded fonts

- References

• Arrange references as a simple list at the end of your manuscript based.
• Authors are responsible for the accuracy of cited references and these should be checked before the manuscript is submitted.
• Only one publication can be listed for each number.
• Published conference abstracts, numbered patents and preprints on recognized servers may be included in reference lists, but text, grant details and acknowledgements may not citing in the text.
• Cite references in the text, tables, or figures in consecutively numerical order by means of superscript Arabic numerals. It is acceptable for a reference to be cited only in a table or a figure legend and not in the text if it is in sequence with references cited in text.
• Use Arabic superscript numerals outside periods and commas, inside colons and semicolons.
• Two references are cited with a comma and no space. Three or more consecutive references are cited in a range with dashes.
• References in tables, figures, and panels should be in numerical order according to where the item is cited in the text.
• Please note that if references are not cited in order the manuscript may be returned for amendment before it is passed on to the Editor for assessment.
• Only articles published or in press should be included in the reference list. Personal communications or unpublished data must be cited in parentheses in the text with the name(s) of the source(s) and the year. Authors should request permission from the source to cite unpublished data.
• In reference list:

List the surnames and initials of first names of all authors if there are 6 or fewer; otherwise list the first 3 and add ‘et al.’ Use one space only between words up to the year and then no spaces. The journal title should be in italic and abbreviated according to the style of PubMed. If the journal is not listed in PubMed, then it should be written out in full. Check journal abbreviations using PubMed.

• General rules from the 10th edition of AMA
  • Items are listed numerically in the order they are cited in the text.
  • Include up to 6 authors.
  • For more than six, provide the names of the first three authors and then add et al.
  • If there is no author, start with the title.
  • Journal article (1-6 authors)

Michaud J, Kates J. Global health diplomacy: Advancing foreign policy and global health interests. Glob Health SciPract. 2013; 1(1): 24-28. doi:10.9745/GHSP-D-12-00048

• Journal article (more than 6 authors)

Hu WS, Ting WJ, Chiang WD, et al. The heart protection effect of alcalase potato protein hydrolysate is through IGF1R-PI3K-Akt compensatory reactivation in aging rats on high fat diets. Int J Mol Sci. 2015;16(5):10158-10172. doi: 10.3390/ijms160510158

• Book

Reuter T. Sharing the Earth, Dividing the Land: Land and Territory in the Austronesian World. Canberra: Australian National University Press; 2006.

• Book Section

Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human solid tumors. In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, eds. The genetic basis of human cancer. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002:93-113.

• Newspaper article – in print

Wolf W. State’s mail-order drug plan launched. Minneapolis Star Tribune. May 14, 2004:1B.

• Newspaper article – online

Pollack A. FDA approves new cystic fibrosis drug. New York Times. January 31, 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/business/fda-approves-cystic-fibrosis-drug.html?ref=health. Accessed February 1, 2012.

• Websites

Outbreak notice: Cholera in Haiti. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site. http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/outbreak-notice/haiti-cholera.htm. Updated January 9, 2012. Accessed February 1, 2012.

• Thesis

Weisbaum LD. Human sexuality of children and adolescents: a comprehensive training guide for social work professionals [master's thesis]. Long Beach (CA): California State University; 2005.

• Conference proceedings

Chu H, Rosenthal M. Search engines for the World Wide Web: a comparative study and evaluation methodology. Paper presented at: American Society for Information Science 1996 Annual Conference; October 19 24, 1996; Baltimore, MD. http://www.asis.org/annual-96/electronicproceedings/chu.html. Accessed February 26, 200

- Statistics

For the reporting of statistical analyses please consider the following points:

• Focus the statistical analysis at the research question.
• Report simple analyses first, then more sophisticated results.
• Provide information about participation and missing data.
• As much as possible, describe results using meaningful phrases (E.g., do not say "beta" or "regression coefficient", but "mean change in Y per unit of X"). Provide 95% confidence intervals for estimates.
• Report the proportions as N (%), not just %.
• Maintain the consistency of reporting all decimal places across the manuscript (either one decimal or two decimal places).
• Report p values with 2 digits after the decimal. e.g. 0.54, 0.03.
• Always include a leading zero before the decimal point (e.g. 0.32 not .32).

- Abbreviations and Symbols

Use only standard abbreviations; use of nonstandard abbreviations can be confusing to readers. Avoid abbreviations in the title of the manuscript. The spelled-out abbreviation followed by the abbreviation in parenthesis should be used on first mention unless the abbreviation is a standard unit of measureme