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Author Guidelines

The editors are indebted to the Editors of the American Journal of Epidemiology, whose author instructions have been adapted below to our requirements.

Correspondence and Manuscript Submission

Manuscripts must be submitted online, with pages numbered, double-spaced, in at least twelve-point type.

Each manuscript, when submitted, must include a word count of the text, exclusive of references, tables, and figure legends. The author who submits the manuscript need not be the contact author throughout the entire publishing process.

Code of Ethics

If a study has involved any contact with human subjects or if it is otherwise appropriate, authors should state in their manuscript that the appropriate institutional review board (IRB) has approved the study proposal, as well as the manner in which informed consent was obtained from subjects (if applicable). Authors should follow the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki (41st World Medical Assembly. Declaration of Helsinki: recommendations guiding physicians in biomedical research involving human subjects. Bull Pan Am Health Organ 1990;24:606-9).

The Journal subscribes to the criteria for authorship detailed in Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (Vancouver Guidelines) by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.

Conflict of Interest

Journal policy requires that the submitting author submit a conflict of interest statement, revealing any author's 1) financial interest in or arrangement with a company whose product was used in a study or is referred to in a Review or Letter, 2) financial interest in or arrangement with a competing company, and 3) other financial connections, direct or indirect, or other situations that might raise the question of bias in the work reported or the conclusions, implications, or opinions stated-including pertinent commercial or other sources of funding for the individual author(s) or for the associated department(s) or organization(s), personal relationships, or direct academic competition. If the manuscript is published, such information may be communicated in a note following the text and references. An example of such a statement is provided here. Career advancement to be gained through publication is not a conflict of interest.

Manuscripts

Advances in Disease Surveillance considers manuscripts that have not been published previously, do not essentially duplicate already published material, and are not being simultaneously considered for publication elsewhere. If the submitted manuscript is based on the findings of an article in press or if such an article is cited in support of current findings, a copy of the article should be uploaded along with the submitted manuscript.

Unsolicited manuscripts should be original reports of such topics as methodological developments, research tools or code description (see note below on supplementary files), epidemiological results, system description/case studies of system implementation, and research protocols. The journal will also publish reviews, editorials, and commentaries on an invited basis. Unsolicited letters to the editor are not accepted. Those wishing to comment on an article may do so directly. See journal policies.

The authors are encouraged to submit research materials (including but not limited to questionnaires, data collection instruments, Excel spreadsheets, data, and code) for publication as supplementary files.

Word Count

Original research articles are expected to be approximately 2500-3500 words long.

Text Format and Style

Before final acceptance, submissions must conform to the following instructions. Initial and review submissions may also find it useful to make manuscripts match this style. However, editorial decisions do not incorporate style matters except if they interfere with comprehensibility.

Accepted articles must be submitted either as Microsoft Word-readable .doc files or as latex files; this is a requirement of the typesetter.

Refer to a recently published article for the correct format and style. It should be used in conjunction with Scientific Style and Format: The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, Sixth Edition, available from the Council of Science Editors, Inc., 11250 Roger Bacon Drive, Reston, VA 20190 (telephone: 1-703-437-4377; fax: 1-703-435-4390).

Use American English spelling. Follow Webster's Third New International Dictionary or Merriam Webster's Collegiate Dictionary, Tenth Edition, for spelling and word division. Follow the Merck Index and Stedman's Medical Dictionary, 26th Edition, for spelling of chemical names and medical terms.

If you have additional questions about journal style after reading the following instructions, please contact the journal manager.

Cover page. Provide a cover page with the title and authors. Superior footnote numbers are used to indicate affiliations, which should be typed as separate paragraphs. Provide a "running head," a short title of not more than 50 letters and spaces.

Grants and acknowledgments. The grants or agencies supporting the work and the acknowledgments should be typed after the text and before the references. Give no degrees or courtesy titles in the acknowledgments; however, "Dr." should precede the name of each person with a medical and/or doctoral degree. Do not thank reviewers or study subjects.

Abstract. All submissions must include an abstract. The abstract should state concisely the research question that was asked, the methods used, the results of the research, and the answer to the question. Because the abstract is used by abstracting services such as MEDLINE and must make sense when read alone, it should not include citations of the scientific literature or figures or tables. However, it should include the study year(s), location, and population studied, if applicable. Use the impersonal "the authors."

The journal does not use structured abstracts. Type the abstract as one double-spaced paragraph. Brief reports, editorials, and reviews do not have abstracts.

Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) (keywords). For all submissions, give a list of not more than eight MeSH headings in alphabetical order below the abstract. MeSH headings should be selected from main headings listed in Medical Subject Headings in Index Medicus (published by the National Library of Medicine) http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html. For statistical papers only, keywords may be selected from boldface entries in the Subject Index of the latest volume of Current Index to Statistics: Applications, Methods and Theory (CIS), available from the American Statistical Association, 1429 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22314-3415 (telephone: 1-888-231-3473; fax: 1-703-684-2037).

Text headings.

With few exceptions, articles should be structured with an Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion section. Evaluations of systems may follow headings from the framework for evaluation. Place section headings flush left on the page in capital letters.

Second-level headings are flush left with only the first letter of the first word uppercased. Do not underline.

Third-level headings are italic and begin the paragraph (with only the first letter of the first word uppercased), followed by a period.

Do not number the sections of the paper.

Abbreviations. To improve clarity and readability, the journal strictly limits the use of abbreviations. Only those needed for long, involved terms, such as hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg), will be allowed. The abbreviations CI, RR, OR, and SMR may be used only in parentheses after being defined the first time used. Abbreviations may be used in tables and figures if they are defined in the table footnotes and figure legends. Avoid excessive use of abbreviations.

At its first appearance in the abstract and text, an abbreviated term should be written out in full, with the abbreviation in parentheses immediately following.

Trade names. For products used in experiments or methods (particularly those referred to by a trade name), give the manufacturer's full name and location (in parentheses). When possible, use generic names of drugs.

Use of "percent" in text. Express percentage in text as "percent" (one word). Use the % symbol in the abstract, tables, and figures (including legends). Use mg/100 ml rather than mg%.

Footnotes to text. Do not use footnotes to the text. Incorporate such material into the text (e.g., in parentheses).

Numbers. Write out numbers under 10, except for decimals, percentages, measurements, and units of time; express numbers 10 and greater in Arabic numerals. (Use numerals for case 1, subject 2, etc.) Insert commas in numbers with four or more digits.

Metric system. The journal strongly encourages authors to use the metric system for all measurements. Where US measurements must be used, metric equivalents must be given in parentheses.

Decimal fractions. For decimal fractions less than 1.00, use a zero in the whole-number position (e.g., 0.001).

p values. Note style for probability: p < 0.01, with a lowercase letter p. Avoid reporting an excessive number of digits beyond the decimal for estimates, especially when the estimate has a wide confidence interval. If p values are given, they should be reported to at most two digits beyond any leading zeros. They may alternatively be reported as less than some specified value (e.g., p < 0.05 or p < 0.001). Indicate whether p values are one sided or two sided.

Means, standard deviations, and standard errors. To report means, standard deviations, and standard errors, use the following format: "mean (SD)" and "mean (SE)." Do not use "±."

Confidence intervals. In the text, all confidence intervals are expressed by using a colon and with a comma instead of a dash between values, for example, (95 percent confidence interval: 1.20, 1.90). In tables, place confidence intervals in a separate column.

Statistical notation. Equations can appear within the text or displayed (placed on its own line with no text around it). Any equation that will be referred later in the text should be displayed and assigned a sequential equation number at the right margin in parentheses. When referring to an equation in the text, use "equation (6)" with a lowercase "e."

When preparing math, use italic type for variables and single letters, bold type for vectors, and regular type for short words such as "exp" or "lim." Insert a space before and after any mathematical sign or symbol.

For multiplication, use a times sign in preference to an asterisk or centered dot. For ±, £, and ³, do not use an underline. The underline may be lost in software conversion, changing the meaning of the data.

Regression analyses. When presenting results of regression analyses, regression coefficients should usually be converted into more generally meaningful terms (e.g., relative odds instead of beta coefficients). Note that, because regression coefficients are unit dependent for continuous variables and category dependent for discrete or ordinal variables, the journal requires statements specifying the units or categories, that is, as parenthetical statements in the text or in table footnotes or figure legends.

Odds ratio vs. relative risk. When reporting results of a case-based case-control study, where the parameter of interest is an odds ratio, the authors should refer to that parameter as an "odds ratio," not as a "relative risk."

Table Format and Style

Tables should be placed within the text at or near the point at which they are first referred to.

Tables should be numbered (Arabic numerals) in the sequence in which they are mentioned in the text. They should be concise and self-explanatory. Use a single top rule, a single rule below the headings, and a single bottom rule. Do not use rules within the table body. Column headings should be clearly delineated, with straddle rules over pertinent columns to indicate subcategories. Whenever possible, data in vertical columns should have the same unit of measurement.

Table titles should give details on the place of study, the time of the study, and the study population (if applicable). The designation Table 1 should be typed flush left, followed by a period and the title. In the title, capitalize only the first word and proper nouns. (In text, use a lowercase beginning letter for the words "table" and "figure.") In the table body, leave blank spaces for no entry; avoid using dashes. For footnotes, use the following symbols in this order:

*, †, ‡, §, #, **, ††, ‡‡, etc.

Use asterisks (*, **, ***) for p values. If p values repeat in successive tables, they should be defined in the first footnote to each table in which they appear. Always list any p values before other footnotes in the table.

Requirements for Figures

Figures should be placed within the text at or near the point at which they are first referred to.

Letters, numbers, decimal points, and symbols should be large enough and sharp enough to be readable when figures are reduced. All figures will be reduced to fit either in one column or within the two-column width of the journal page. On maps, add scale (in kilometers or meters) and direction north.

When plotting relative measures of effect (e.g., relative risks, relative odds), a logarithmic scale should be used unless there is a compelling reason to use an arithmetic scale. If bars are used to plot the relative measures, they should start at the baseline level of 1.0 rather than at zero.

Figure titles and legends should not appear as graphics but should be typed in text with the figures. Define all figure abbreviations in the legend.

Figures may be included with the text in a Word or pdf file, or in a separate file.

Avoid pie charts, unnecessary three-dimensional figures, and bar charts with error bars. Read The visual display of quantitative information by Edward Tufte.

References

Number references consecutively in the order in which they are mentioned in the text. Reference numbers in the text are full-sized Arabic numerals in parentheses within the sentence. For three or more consecutive references cited all at once, use, for example, (1-4). Format other references as (4, 5, 12), with spaces between the reference numbers.

When directly quoting material in the text, give the reference number followed by the page number(s) of the quotation, for example, (24, p. 65).

Important: All statements of scientific fact should be referenced. Failure to do so may cause considerable delay in processing the manuscript and may necessitate renumbering of the references.

References to personal, written communications should be inserted in parentheses in the text rather than in the reference list. Give the person's name, institutional affiliation, "personal communication," and the year (in that order). Verbal communications are not acceptable as supporting documentation.

The reference list should be limited to published or "in press" references. No "submitted" manuscript should appear in the reference list. A manuscript submitted for publication but not yet accepted may be referenced in parentheses in the text. Give the author's name, institutional affiliation, and "unpublished manuscript." Unpublished data may also be cited in the text. However, authors should not refer or promise future publication of results.

References must be verified by the author(s) against the original documents and must give the exact authors' names, initials, and article title. Please supply the page range; if only one page number is given, indicate in parentheses after the title whether the reference is a letter, an editorial, or an abstract. For manuscripts accepted but not yet published, designate the journal followed by "(in press)." For references to papers presented at conferences, give the location, month, and year of the conference.

For articles printed in a language other than English, indicate the language in parentheses after the article title.

Examples of correct forms of references follow. Type references double-spaced. The titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the List of Journals Indexed in Index Medicus (published by the National Library of Medicine). For more than three authors, list the first three and add "et al." Telescope page numbers, e.g., 132-6, 112-17, 1896-902.
Examples of Reference Style

Standard journal article

Whittemore AS, Harris R, Itnyre J, et al. Characteristics relating to ovarian cancer risk: collaborative analysis of 12 US case-control studies. II. Invasive epithelial ovarian cancers in white women. Am J Epidemiol 1992;136:1184-203.

Committee or corporate author

Self-reported illness and health status among Gulf War veterans. A population-based study. The Iowa Persian Gulf Study Group. JAMA 1997;277:238-45.

Book

Meinert CL. Clinical trials dictionary: terminology and usage recommendations. Baltimore, MD: The Johns Hopkins Center for Clinical Trials, 1996.

Chapter in book

Curtin L, Feinleib M. Considerations in the design of longitudinal surveys of health. In: Dwyer JH, Feinleib M, Lippert P, et al., eds. Statistical models for longitudinal studies of health. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 1992:49-67.

Agency publication

National Center for Health Statistics. Plan and operation of the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-94. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics, 1994. (Vital and health statistics, series 1: programs and collection procedures, no. 32) (DHHS publication no. (PHS) 94-1308) (GPO no. 017-022-01260-0).

Conference presentation

Pourier MC. DNA adduct determination in human tissues and blood cell DNA samples. Presented at the Mary Lasker Conference of the American Cancer Society, Sarasota, Florida, April 1991.

CD-ROM

National Center for Health Statistics. Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988-1994. NCHS CD-ROM series 11, no. 1A, ASCII version.

Website

Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM). Center for Medical Genetics, Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD) and National Center for Biotechnology Information, National Library of Medicine (Bethesda, MD), 1999. (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/omim/).

US Environmental Protection Agency. Final rule. "National primary drinking water regulations; arsenic and clarifications to compliance and new source contaminants monitoring." Part VIII. Federal Register 66, no. 14 (January 22, 2001):6876-7066. (http://www.epa.gov/safewater/ars/arsenid_finalrule.htm).

Media reference

The man who helped indict smoking. (Editorial). New York Times Jan 18, 1997:A22.

ABC News. What happened over there? 20/20, Aug 14, 1992. Denver, CO: Journal Graphics, Inc, 1992. (Transcript 1235).

Journal article in press with digital object identifier

Sturmer T, Gefeller O, Brenner H. A computer program to estimate power and relative efficiency to assess gene-environment interactions in flexibly matched case-control studies. Comput Methods Programs Biomed (in press). (doi:10.1016/j.cmpb.2003. 08.003).
Proofs

All page-galley proofs are transmitted by e-mail as a pdf attachment. When they are received, they should be read carefully, corrected if necessary, signed by the senior author or a designated coauthor, and returned within 48 hours after receipt. Important:

 

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.

  1. The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  2. The submission file is in Microsoft Word or PDF document file format.
  3. All URL addresses in the text (e.g., http://pkp.sfu.ca) are activated and ready to click.
  4. The text is double-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses). Illustrations, figures, and tables are preferably placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
  5. The text may or may not completely adhere to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, I realize I may have to edit it further to comply before publication.
  6. I have prepared a conflict of interest statement, which I will upload as a supplementary file during this submission process. (This step immediately follows uploading the article itself.) This statement will appear with any eventual publication.
 

Copyright Notice

Copyright to the work is retained by the author(s), with first publication rights granted to the journal.

 

Privacy Statement

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