Instructions for Authors
Contents
Authors of systematic reviews and meta-analysis should follow reporting guidelines such as PRISMA .
Article Types and Word Counts
Structured Abstracts must be divided into Background, Methods, Results, and Discussion sections with a maximum of 350 words.
Unstructured Abstracts must be no more than 250 words.
|
Type |
Word Limit |
Table/Figure Limit |
Abstract |
|
Article |
2500 |
10 |
Structured |
|
Case Report |
1500 |
5 |
Unstructured |
|
Clinical Trial |
3500 |
10 |
Structured |
|
Editorial |
1500 |
5 |
Unstructured |
|
Electronic Supplementary Material |
N/A |
N/A |
Unstructured |
|
Guideline |
60,000 |
20 |
Structured |
|
Historical Article |
2000 |
5 |
Unstructured |
|
Imaging-Video-Audio Media |
500 |
N/A |
N/A |
|
Letter |
1500 |
5 |
N/A |
|
Meta-Analysis/Systematic Review |
5000 |
20 |
Structured |
|
Observational Study |
2500 |
10 |
Structured |
|
Personal Narrative |
1500 |
5 |
Unstructured |
|
Review |
2500 |
10 |
Structured |
|
Support of Research |
N/A |
N/A |
Unstructured |
|
White Paper |
15,000 |
N/A |
Unstructured |
Formatting your Paper
ACMRHD uses the American Medical Association Manual of Style, 11th edition, for formatting papers.
- Do not include a title page, abstract, keywords or page numbers.
- Submit your manuscript, including tables, figures, appendices, etc., as one file. The manuscript file must be a Word document.
- Page size: 8.5 x 11-inches.
- All margins (left, right, top and bottom) should be 1.5 inches.
- Line spacing: single space except before and after a section heading.
- Font: body—12 pt. Times New Roman; footnotes—10 pt. Times .
- Indentation: the first line of the first paragraph under a heading is not indented. Subsequent paragraphs are indented.
- Do not "widow" or "orphan" text (i.e., ending a page with the first line of a paragraph or beginning a page with the last line of a paragraph).
- Justification: text should be single column, left-and-right justified, distributed evenly between both margins.
- Language: submissions must be in English.
- Use proper English grammar. The Elements of Style by William Strunk, Jr. and E. B. White is the "standard" guide, but other excellent guides (e.g., The Chicago Manual of Style, University of Chicago Press) exist as well.
- Markup: please make sure to turn off comments and mark up in the final submitted version.
- Emphasized text: whenever possible, use italics to indicate text you wish to emphasize rather than underlining it or using color.
- Headings: Times New Roman, 12 point, Bold, capitalize major words in headings.
- Tables and Figures: should appear in the document near where they are referenced. Each table and figure should be identified according to the order they appear in the document. (i.e. Table 1.). Figure number and title appear at the top of the figure. Figure notes appear at bottom of the figure. Figure title and notes should be enclosed by a border. The title of the table is in the first row of the table, notes are in the last row, both left justified. Tables should not contain vertical lines or outside borders.
- Mathematics: Roman letters used in mathematical expressions as variables should be italicized. Roman letters used as part of multi-letter function names should not be italicized. Whenever possible, subscripts and superscripts should be a smaller font size than the main text.
- Mathematical expressions should be typed inline. Longer expressions should appear as display math.
- Conflict of Interest/Funding Statements; authors should provide a list of all potential conflicts of interest relevant to the manuscript. List conflicts of interest, or a statement that none exist, at the end of the document before the reference list.
- The reference list should appear at the end of the document as a new page. Use the word References as a heading, left justified. The reference list should be single spaced and follow the AMA guidelines.
Formatting References
ACMRHD uses the American Medical Association style for formatting references. See examples below.
AMA format for in-text references
Use superscript Arabic numbers within the text to cite information (e.g.,1, 2, 3…) with each number referring to the numbered citation on the reference list at the end of the document.
AMA format for reference list
Your reference list should appear on a separate page at the end of the article. The references should be listed in the order they were cited in the paper.
AMA format for journal articles:
Author Last Name First Initial Middle Initial. Title of article. Accepted Abbreviation of Journal Title. Year; Volume(Issue):Inclusive Page Numbers. doi.(if available)
In listed references, the names of all authors should be given unless there are more than 6, in which case the names of the first 3 authors are used, followed by “et al.".
You can find the accepted abbreviation of a journal at the National Library of Medicine Catalog.
Example of AMA format for journal articles:
Muller R. Systemic toxicity of chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine: prevalence, mechanisms, risk factors, prognostic and screening possibilities. Rheumatol Int. 2021; 24:1-4. doi: 10.1007/s00296-021-04868-6.
AMA format for books:
Editor’s Last Name First Initial Middle Initial followed by “eds". Title of Book. Location of Publisher: Name of Publisher; Year.
Example of AMA format for books:
Goldman L, Schafer AI, Cecil R, eds.Goldman-Cecil Medicine. Philadelphia, Pa: Elsevier; 2020.
AMA format for book chapters:
Chapter Author Last Name First Initial Middle Initial. Title of chapter. In: Editors Last Name First Initial Middle Initial, eds. Name of Book.Edition Number.Name of Publisher; Year.
Example of AMA format for book chapters:
Yagyu S, Iehara T. MYCN nonamplified neuroblastoma: Detection of tumor-derived cell-free DNA in serum for predicting prognosis of neuroblastoma. In Hayat MA, ed. Pediatric Cancer Diagnosis, Therapy, and Prognosis, 4th ed. Springer; 2013:11-17.
AMA format for websites:
Author (or, if no author available the name of the organization responsible for the website). Title (or, if no title available the name of the organization responsible for the website). Name of the website. Published date. Accessed date. URL.
Example of AMA format for websites:
Center for Disease Control. Interim Clinical Considerations for Use of COVID-19 Vaccines Currently Approved or Authorized in the United States. December 9, 2022. https://www.cdc.gov/vaccines/covid-19/clinical-considerations/interim-considerations-us.html.