THE RULES OF SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPTS TO THE SCIENTIFIC PRACTICAL JOURNAL POLYTRAUMA

The scientific practical journal Polytrauma is a periodic printing publication for clinicians, scientific workers and healthcare leaders. The journal publishes original articles of basic and applied theoretic, clinical and experimental studies, practical notes, discussions, literature reviews, informative materials dedicated to actual problems of polytrauma.

The main journal sections are “Leading article”, “Organization of specialized medical aid”, “Original studies”, “New medical technologies”, “Anesthesiology and resuscitation”, “Clinical aspects of surgery”, “Clinical aspects of traumatology and orthopedics”, “Clinical Aspects of neurosurgery”, “Functional, instrumental and laboratory diagnostics”, “Rehabilitation”, “Experimental studies”, “Case report”.

Polytrauma journal has been included into the List of leading reviewed scientific journals, which include the main results of dissertations for PhD in medicine and candidate of medical science according to scientific fields: 14.01.00 – clinical medicine; 14.03.00 – medicobiological sciences. Groups of specialties and researchers: 14.01.15 – traumatology and orthopedics, 14.01.18 – neurosurgery, 14.01.17 – surgery, 14.01.20 – anesthesiology and critical care medicine, 14.03.03 – pathologic physiology.

Submission of an article to the editorial office

A manuscript is sent in electronic form to the journal’s site http://poly-trauma.ru in compliance with the following requirements on the user’s page according to the instruction.

If the upload to the site is impossible or hindered, then the materials cab ne sent to e-mails of the editorial office - info@gnkc.kuzbass.net; pressa@gnkc.kuzbass.net – in the form of attached files.

When sending an article to the editorial office, one has to send files, which contain scanned pictures of filled and authenticated accompanying documents (in format *.pdf):

1. The first page of the manuscript with a consent by a director of an institution with a seal affixed.

2. The attached letter in the name of the Chief Editor with the seal and sign by the director of institution which confirms the cession of rights for publishing, with indication of the following moments: 1) the manual is not reviewed for other publication; 2) the manual was not published previously; 3) the manuscript contains full revelation of conflict of interests; 4) all authors have read and approved it; 5) there are not any materials, which are not to be published; 5) the author(s) is(are) responsible for authenticity of presented materials. The letter should be signed by all authors.

3. Information on conflict of interests/sponsorship. The authors have to describe potential and clear conflicts of interests relating to the manuscript. Conflict of interest is presented by any situation (financial relationships, employment in institutions having any financial or political interest for published materials; official duties and others), which can influence on the author of the manuscript and can lead to hiding and corruption of the data or to changes in their representation.

It is desirable to indicate the sources of financing for a study. If conflict of interest is absent, than one should write: “Conflict of interest is not stated”. If the editorial office finds some potential or clear conflicts of interests from the side of authors, the manuscript can be rejected for publishing.

It is necessary to indicate the source of financing for scientific work and for the process of article publication (fund, commercial or state organization, private person etc.). The rate of financing is not indicated. If the above-mentioned aspects were realized without sponsorship, the authors have to mention it. The information is presented in the separate page in the separate file, with signs by all authors.

Observance of ethical standards

The editorial board of Polytrauma journal aims to adhere to the principles of editorial ethics, which are described in the recommendations of International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) and of Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

The personal findings (names, place of employment, job positions, academic ranks, phone numbers, post address, e-mail) of the authors of Polytrauma journal are used exclusively for the aims designated in the journal, are not exposed to additional preparation, are not used for other purposes and are not presented for other persons or institutions.

Information on compliance with ethical standards

All clinical studies have to be conducted and described in compliance with CONSORT standards.

If an article contains some findings of researches with human subjects, one should indicate the compliance with ethical standards of the bioethical committee (as a part of an institution where a study is realized) of Helsinki Declare – Ethical Principles for Medical Research with Human Subjects, 2000, and the Rules for Clinical Practice in the Russian Federation confirmed by the Order of the Health Ministry of Russia on June 19, 2003, No.266. All participating persons have to give their informed consent for participation in the research.

In articles describing the animal experiments, one should note that experiments were conducted in compliance with the Rules for Researches with Experimental Animals (the application for the order by Health Ministry of USSR on August 12, 1977, No.755). The copies of all materials are kept by authors. In both cases, it is necessary to note whether the study protocol was approved by the ethical committee (with indication of institution’s name, its location, protocol number and the date of committee session).

Originality and plagiarism

The authors have to submit only original articles. If any works by other authors are indicated, the correctness of citation and indication of a source are to be adhered. Publications, which make the significant influence on preparation of a study and its format, are to be mentioned.

All submitted articles are tested with Antiplagiat system.

Multiple, duplicate and concurrent publications

Materials describing the contents of one and the same study are not published in more than one journal. Submitting a manuscript to more than one journal is considered as non-ethical, and, therefore, is unacceptable. Copyright protected materials, which are already published, cannot be published in the journal. Moreover, materials, which are during the review process in the editorial office of the journal, cannot be sent to another journal for publishing as an author’s article. When submitting an article, the author informs the editor in terms of all previous presentations of a study which can be considered as duplicate or double publications. The author has to notify the editor if a manuscript contains any information published in previous reports or presented for other publications. In such cases, a new article has to include the references to previous material.

In case of identification of unethical behavior, even years after publication, the editorial board has a right to exclude an article from scientific rotation.

Requirements for manuscript execution

Policy of sections. All submitted manuscripts are presented in compliance with international standards of publishing policy.

CONSORT 2010 (The Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials) is recommended for writing the articles, which present results of randomized clinical studies with parallel groups.

Studies in vivo with laboratory animals can be based on ARRIVE (The ARRIVE Guidelines for Reporting Animal Research).

STROBE (The Strengthening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) is acceptable for articles presenting the results of observational studies (case-control or cohort study).

PRISMA (Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses) is recommended for preparation of systemic reviews.

CARE (The CARE Guidelines: Consensus-based Clinical Case Reporting Guideline Development) is used for description of clinical cases.

SRQR (Standards for Reporting Qualitative Research: a synthesis of recommendations) is used for articles presenting the results of qualitative studies.

STARD 2015 (An Updated List of Essential Items for Reporting Diagnostic Accuracy Studies) is used for preparation of articles presenting the results of diagnostic accuracy studies.

The volume of full text of manuscript (original studies, lectures, reviews), including tables and references, is not more than 5,000 words. The volume of articles dedicated to description of clinical cases is not more than 3,000 words; short messages and letters to editor – about 1,500 words.

Files with text of article have to contain all information for publication. Text information is presented in Microsoft Word; tables and charts – in Microsoft Excel; photos and pictures – in TIF with resolution of 300 dpi, vector images – in EPS, EMF, CDR. The size of an image is not less than 4.5 x 4.5 cm, with the square not exceeding 100 cm².

Format of manuscript text. Text is typed with Times New Roman, 14 pt, line space 1.0 pt, size of margins – not less than 2.5 cm at each side of the page. Pages are numerated with arabic figures in the upper or lower right angle beginning from the title page.

The title page includes the name of an article, full names of authors, full official name of institution(s) of performed study in Russian and English; chief’s surname and science degree; surname, e-mail, phone number and post address with zip-code of author who is responsible for communication with the editorial office.

Authorship. The information on authors is indicated in the sequence which is defined by their coordinated decision and confirmed with signatures at the title page. The following information is indicated: full name, place of employment and job positions of all authors. If the author list has more than 4 authors it is necessary to indicate contribution of each author to the work. Other persons making their contribution to work realization which is not enough for authorship acknowledgment should be indicated (from their written consent) in the section Gratitude after text of an article.

Summary and key words. The author’s summary (Russian and English versions) has not more than 250 words and has to be compact and structured, with the main sections: introduction; objective; materials and methods; results; conclusion. Then 4-8 key words are indicated. (Key words:...), which promote article indexing in the search systems.

Rubrication. The original article has to correspond to the common pattern: introduction, objective and purposes, methods (materials and methods), results, discussion, conclusion. In big articles, the sections “Results” and “Discussion” may have subheads. Other structure of text is possible in reviews and case reports.

Introduction should contain brief description of the problem of a study, and substantiation of importance and necessity of work. The end of the section includes the study objective.

The main task of Materials and Methods section consists in clear description of study designs and methods to provide the reproducibility of results. The study methods and procedures, as well as equipment (with name of the maker in the brackets), are described to degree, which is required that other researchers could reproduce the results. The description of research methodology has to include inclusion/exclusion criteria, description of randomization technique, primary and secondary end-points of the study, statistical analysis methods, and ethical aspects. It is recommended for authors to use the corresponding recommendations for reporting structure id dependence on a type of a study according to EQUATOR NETWORK.

The Materials and methods section also should include a statement, which indicates that the study has been approved by the responsible ethical committee (institution’s committee or national committee) or has been released from necessity to do it. In absence of the official ethical committee, one has to note that the study was conducted in compliance with principles of Helsinki Declare.

The patient’s personal data is not published. The patient (parent/foster parent) has to give the written informed consent for publication.

The Results section includes the description of the study population including the amount of excluded patients and the causes of exclusion from the study, as well as protocol deviations. All information on primary and secondary end points, which are mentioned in Methods section, is described. The text has to include only the most important data supplemented by tables and figures. The changes in tested hypotheses and end points, which happened during the study or after it, are described.

The Discussion section offers the interpretation of main results and their comparison with well-known data of domestic and foreign literature, and conclusions on correspondence of results to the data of similar studies. It is necessary to note the contribution of the study to available knowledge in this field. Limitations and disadvantages of the study are described, as well as ways for overruling the limitations of the study.

Conclusions are matched with study objectives and are confirmed by facts described in the study.

Statistical analysis. The description of procedure of statistical analysis is the integral component of Materials and methods section. It is necessary to indicate the full list of all used statistic methods of analysis and criteria for hypothesis test. It is unacceptable to use such phrases as “standard statistic methods were used” without concise indication. Critical level of significance p is obligatory for indication in a study (for example, “Critical level of significance in testing of statistic hypotheses was 0.05”). In each case, the actual value of achieved level of significance p for used statistic criterion is indicated (not just p < 0.05 or p > 0.05). Besides, it is necessary to indicate concise values of obtained statistic criteria (for example, chi-squared test = 12.3 (degrees of freedom df = 2, p = 0.0001). It is obligatory to give a definition for all used statistic terms, abbreviations and symbolic designations (for example, M – mean, SEM – standard error of mean, STD – standard deviation, p – achieved level of significance).

If one uses the formulations as M ± m, it is obligatory to indicate the value of each symbol, as well as sample size (n). If used statistic criteria have limitations for their using then indicate how these limitations are checked and what are the results of tests (for example, in case of using of parametric techniques one has to indicate how the fact of normalcy of sample distribution was confirmed). Inappropriate use of terms with several meanings must be avoided (for example, there are several variants of correlation ratios: Pearson, Spearman et al.). Mean values are not taken more precisely than for one place of decimal compared to the base data; mean-square deviation and error of mean – one more sign more precisely.

If analysis of data was performed using statistic software, the name of this software and its version are indicated.

References are reviewed against the original and are set under the title “Literature” on the separate list in the order of citing or in alphabetic arrangement for literature reviews. The text includes a reference to the index number of cited study in angle bracket [1] or [1, 2]. Each reference in the list starts from the new line (as column). Authors have to use not more than 15 literature sources related to the last 5 years, in reviews – up to 50 sources.

According to the new rules with consideration of such international citing systems as Web of Science and Scopus, the list of references must be presented in Russian and in English. Author(s) is (are) responsible for accuracy of data in references.

Bibliographic description in Russian is performed on the base of GOST R 7.0.5-2008 (Bibliographic reference. The general requirements and rules of preparation). English part of references has to correspond to the format recommended by National Information Standards Organization (NISO) and accepted by National Library of Medicine (NLM) for databases (Library's MEDLINE/PubMed database) NLM: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/citingmedicine.

In bibliographical description, the number of authors’ names is up to 6; if more – et al. is indicated. In case of description of journal articles, the publisher's imprint is indicated in the following order: authors’ surname and initials, name of article, name of journal, year, volume, issue, pages (from till). In description of articles from collected works the publisher's imprint is indicated: surname, initials, name of article, name of collected works, place of publishing, year of publishing, pages (from till).

Illustrations (pictures, diagrams, figures, photos) are presented as separate files in the formats indicated above. Picture captions with picture numeration are presented as separate Microsoft Word file. In the text and in the left side of the page, the references to each picture are indicated in concordance with the first mention in the text. Illustrations must be clear, suitable for reproduction, and their number is not more than 8 including a, b etc. For previously published illustrations it is obligatory to indicate original source and to present the written consent for reproduction from author (owner).

Tables are numerated if their number exceeds one and are sequentially cited in text (not more than five is acceptable). Each column must have a short heading. Spaces in lines (in the absence of data) are designated with dash. A reference is required for data from other sources. Doubling of the same data in text, in diagrams and tables are not inadmissible.

Abbreviations. It is advisable to use generally accepted abbreviations (GOST 7.0.12-2011 for Russian and GOST 7.11-78 for European languages) and to avoid new abbreviations without good reason. Abbreviations are expanded in the first using of terms and are left without changes across the full text. Abbreviations in table are expanded in the notes.

English language and transliteration. The BGN/PCGN standard is recommended for transliteration (United States Board on Geographic Names / Permanent Committee on Geographical Names for British Official Use) which is recommended as British Standard by the international publishing office Oxford University Press. For text transliteration in compliance with BGN standard one can use the reference http://ru.translit.ru/?account=bgn. English name of an article is to be orthographically correct in English and in full semantic match with Russian name. Full name is written according to foreign travel passport or in the same manner as in previously published articles in foreign journals. If an author has publication for the first time he or she should use BGN/PCGN transliteration standard (see below).

It is necessary to indicate official English name of an institution. One can found the fullest list of the names of institutions and their English versions at eLibrary.ru. English version of a summary of an article must be in full semantic and structural concordance with Russian and to be literate in the context of English.

For choice of key words in English one should use the thesaurus of the American National Medical Library - Medical Subject Headings (MeSH).

INTEREACTION BETWEEN JOURNAL AND AUTHOR

Presentation of an article for publishing in Polytrauma journal supposes the agreement of authors with the published rules. The journal’s editorial board maintains correspondence with the author who responsible for communication the editorial board.

All articles for Polytrauma journal are preliminarily evaluated by the executive editor for correspondence to the formal requirements. At this stage, an article can be returned to authors to correct errors or to supplement missed data. Also at this stage, an article can be rejected because of non-conformity to the journal’s objectives, absence of originality or absence of scientific significance.

After preliminary testing, the executive editor passes a article to the expert in biomedical statistics to test the correctness of statistical analysis.

If answer is positive, an article is send to the reviewer, and time intervals of reviewing are indicated. For disputable cases, the editor can plan additional reviewing. However, the final decision is made by the chief editor.

If a decision is made to improve an article, the reviews and reviewers’ comments are sent to authors. Two months are given to improve an article. If authors do not send the corrected variant of an article or do not inform the editorial board in terms of planned actions, the article is deregistered and is sent to the archive.

After decision on rejected publishing of an article, an author receives the editorial board’s answer and the text of reviews.

If an article is approved for publishing, the editorial board informs authors on time of publishing. The proofreading, which is to be read and returned to the editorial board, is sent to author’s e-mail. A corrected article is returned with applied list of corrections within 3 calendar days. Otherwise, an article will be published without author’s corrections.

After publishing, authors receive the PDF copy of an article. Printed variant can be received through the subscription agency.