The Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology all new manuscripts must be submitted via the web-based manuscript submission and handling system ManuscriptCentral: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/scandjrheumatol

General information

The Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology is the official journal of the Scandinavian Society for Rheumatology. The Journal publishes original research on all aspects of clinical and experimental rheumatology. Original reports, review articles, informative case reports, and letters are equally welcome.

Author and Disclosure Statement

Submission of a manuscript to Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology is understood to imply that it has not previously been published (except in abstract form) and is not being considered for publication elsewhere.

Manuscripts submitted under multiple authorship are reviewed under the assumption that: 1) all authors listed concur with the submitted version of the manuscript and with the listing of the authors; 2) authorship credit is based on important contributions in one or more of the following areas: conception and design, analysis and interpretation of data, drafting of the manuscript or making intellectual contribution to its content; 3) the final manuscript has been explicitly approved by the responsible authorities in the laboratory or institution were the work was carried out.

The corresponding author on behalf of all co-authors should sign a statement concerning any financial or other relationship that might lead to a conflict of interest. Click here to find the statement form.

Manuscript preparation

Submission items include:

A cover letter

A title page (the Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology uses a double-blinded review process and therefore,  you will be asked to save the title page as a separate file for upload)

The manuscript should include the abstract (if required by article type), main text, references, and figure legends

The manuscript should be formatted with a font size no smaller than 12 point. Times, Times Roman, Courier, Helvetica and Arial are the recommended fonts for the best quality conversion, and with a 2 cm margin at both sides of the text and 3 cm wide margins at the top and bottom of the page.

Special characters and symbols, use the Symbol font.

All abbreviations (abbreviations) must be defined.

Files should be labeled with appropriate and descriptive file names (e.g., SmithText.doc, Fig1.tiff, Table3.doc).

Do not upload your text as a PDF.

Authors are encouraged to suggest names of 3-4 persons who might be considered suitable reviewers of their work.

Title page

Because the Scandinavian Journal of Rheumatology uses a double-blind review process, please save your title page as a separate file (it will not be built into any documents seen by reviewers). The title page should contain the title of the article, the category submitted (article, review, case report, letter), a short title of not more than 40 characters for each page (running head), the authors' names, their academic degrees, and their present affiliations. The name of the corresponding author should be given with a reliable mailing address, telephone number, and fax number.

Articles

Articles represent a substantial body of clinical or laboratory work. The paper should be presented in sections as listed below.

Length of manuscript: Abstract: 250 words; Introduction: 500 words, Discussion: 1500; Methods and Results: no limit. If the manuscript exceeds this word count, authors will be required to revise the paper. Permission to exceed these guidelines must be obtained from the Editorial Office.

Abstract

Provide a structured abstract of not more than 150-250 words, using the headings Objectives, Methods, Results and Conclusions.

Key words (maximum of 10)

Use up to 10 key words that reflect the content of the article and will facilitate it being found through Internet searches. Key words should be given beneath the abstract in the box provided in the online submission process.

Introduction

Provide a brief description of the background that led to the study.

Material and methods

Identify details relevant to the conduct of the study. Statistical methods should be clearly explained at the end of this section.

Subheadings that add clarity of presentation are encouraged.

Results

Work should be reported in SI units. Undue repetition in text and tables should be avoided. Comment on validity and significance of results is appropriate but broader discussion of their implication is restricted to the next section.

Subheadings that aid clarity of presentation within this and the previous section are encouraged.

Ethics and consent

When reporting experiments on human subjects, a statement is required that the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 1983. Do not use patients' names, initials, or hospital numbers, especially in illustrative material. Papers including animal experiments or clinical trials must be accompanied by an approval by the local ethics committee and, in the case of animal experiments of any relevant local Licensing Authority. Please give date of issue and registration number in a covering letter. Identifying information should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication. Informed consent for this purpose requires that the patient be shown the manuscript to be published.

Authors reporting on experimental work on humans should, where relevant, submit evidence that the work has been approved by an institutional clinical research panel or its equivalent.

Discussion

Place the nature and findings of the study in the context of other relevant published data. Avoid undue extrapolation from the study topic.

Acknowledgments

Individuals who have made substantial contributions to the study but who are not included in authorship may be acknowledged. The source of support in the form of grants, equipment and drugs of those involved must be stated.

References

In the text references are given as numbers in brackets on the line in order of appearance. At the end of the paper references are given in accordance with the Vancouver system, cited by the numerical system, and listed in the order cited in the text. List all authors when six or less; when seven or more, list only the first six and add et al. Journal titles are abbreviated in accordance with the style in Index Medicus.

For references to manuscripts accepted but not published yet, designate the journal and add (in press). Information from manuscripts submitted but not accepted yet should be cited in the text as (unpublished observations).

Tables

Tables should be submitted in the same format as your article and embedded in the article. Please note: that ManuscriptCentral CANNOT accept Excel files. If your table(s) are in Excel, copy and paste them into the manuscript file. Each table should be typed on a separate sheet with an appropriate legend and footnotes explaining any abbreviations.

Images

Black and white images (photographs, line drawings, graphs, pie charts etc.)

All black and white images should be saved and supplied as TIFF, GIF, EPS, PowerPoint or high quality JPEG files to a minimum of 300 dpi.

Colour images should be saved and supplied as TIFF, GIF, or high quality JPEG files to a minimum of 600 dpi. If you choose a higher resolution your image dimension should be reduced accordingly to keep the file under 2MB. SINGLE PAGE Powerpoint files can be submitted. Please submit ONE slide per file ONLY. Alternatively Powerpoint files can be saved as JPEG or TIFF files and submitted as a single image file.

Hard copies may be requested upon acceptance for publication:

Figures will be sized to fit the width of a single or a double column of text, i.e. 80 or 170 mm wide. Any lettering should be in proportion with the overall dimensions of the drawing.

Parts of figures should be labeled with upper case A, B, C etc.

Images should be of sufficiently high quality with respect to detail, contrast and fineness of grain to withstand the inevitable loss of contrast and detail inherent in the printing process.

Colour images
Colour images should be saved and supplied as TIFF, GIF, or high quality JPEG files to a minimum of 600 dpi. Colour illustrations are accepted, but the authors will be required to pay the cost of the reproduction.

Alternatively, if the colour is not critical for the image's scientific understanding, colour can be published online only, as Supplementary data, with a black and white version being published in the print version of the journal.

Please visit http://cjs.cadmus.com/da/ for instructions on how to prepare digital art.

Legends for illustrations

The legends for illustrations should contain brief but comprehensible explanations.

Any previously published material should be accompanied by the permission of the author and copyright holder for its reproduction.

Brief communications

Short investigative papers, organized in the same manner as full-length articles, but restricted to no more than 1500 words, 3 figures or tables, and up to 15 references.

Case reports

Short reports organized as follows: brief abstract, case report including treatment, differential diagnosis, and comment and to be restricted to no more than 1500 words, 3 figures or tables, and up to 15 references.

Letters

Original observations relating to short clinical or laboratory studies or case reports may be presented as a Letter to the Editor. Letters are not divided into sections and are limited to no more than 700 words and 10 references; one table and one figure may be included. Instructions for references, tables, and figures are the same as for full length articles.

Reviews

The editors invite experts to write review articles on selected topics within the field of rheumatology.

Author proofs - final approval

Authors will be notified via e-mail when a manuscript is ready for final approval before publication. This e-mail provides instructions on how to log on to the online author service, where the final version of the manuscript can be downloaded as a printer ready PDF file.

To avoid delays of publication, proofs should be checked immediately and returned electronically through the online service, following the instructions given. Corrections submitted via the telephone are not accepted. Authors are advised that they are responsible for proof-reading of the text, references, tables and figures for absolute accuracy. Additional material or major corrections cannot be accepted at this stage, nor is substantial rewriting of paragraphs permitted.

Copyright