Please go to our Submissions page for information on the publication procedure and detailed guidelines about manuscript preparation.

Online submission
Log in to your personal submissions page by going to the Submission Centre where you will first be asked to logon with your password or, if you have not previously registered, you will be asked to complete the registration form that appears and choose a password for future use. If you forget your password at any time, simply ask for a new one by sending an e-mail to the Editorial Office

Before starting the submission process, please first review the information listed under Scope, and confirm that your paper fits into one of the categories listed. Also note that Email addresses of all authors are required and the contribution of each one must be stated.

Then carefully read the instructions below to ensure that all the details of your manuscript are correct. More detailed guidelines are given at the bottom of this page.

Manuscript format:
1. Single file saved as Word 2004 or lower version. NOTE: this journal does not accept Microsoft Word 2007 documents (.docx) at present. Please use Word's 'Save As' option to save your document as an older (.doc or .rtf) file type, preferably in a Times font, with minimum 10 point font size.

2. A4-sized document, double line spacing, wide margins: (i) Each page numbered, top right; (ii) Lines numbered; (iii) No 'tracked changes', tracking tool disabled.

3. Title is concise, no more than 12 words, maximum 20.

4. Abstract: single paragraph, 150-200 words maximum. This should be comprehensible to readers before they read the article. Avoid abbreviations and reference citations.

5. Summary for lay readers: 250 words maximum. This must be understandable to a wider lay public and to patients. This summary is presented on a special Patients' page on the web site. It can be based on the Abstract but all complex terms must be described simply.

6. Keywords: no more than 6, which may or may not appear in the title, relevant to the subject of the paper.

7. Tables: clearly arranged, each on a separate page included at the end of the manuscript Word file. In exceptional circumstances where a table has more than 80 rows, it can be sent as a separate Excel file.

8. Figures: each as a separate file, in TIFF, JPEG, GIF, PPT or PDF formats.

9. References: text citations given as author(s) and year (NOT numbered); listed in alphabetical order at the end of the article, with appropriate format, (surname, initials, year of publication, title, journal name (not abbreviated), volume, pages (inclusive).

10. Covering letter, including Disclosure of Interests, saved as a separate file.

11. All documents for submission (text, letter, figures, author photo) are clearly labelled with name and date, i.e. Smith et al June 10_08_text; Smith et al June 10_08_letter; Smith et al June 10_08_Figure 1; Smith et al June 10_08_author

12. Formatting: Manuscripts should be written in clear, concise English; papers that cannot be assessed due to inadequate standard of English or incorrect formatting will be returned, and the submission date changed to the date that the correctly formatted paper is returned.

10.13. English language editing: Authors for whom English is not their first language may decide to engage professional help to improve the English prior to submission. See www.internationalscienceediting.com or www.writescienceright or www.genedits.com or www.camlang.com for some examples of services. All services are arranged and paid for by the author and are used at the author's own risk. Mention of these services on this website does not necessarily provide endorsement. Use of one of these services does not guarantee acceptance for publication.

Manuscript guidelines
Further guidelines can be found by clicking Submissions.