SOCIAL MEDIA
Portuguese Medical Association's Scientific Journal
Information for AuthorsACTA MÉDICA PORTUGUESA Editorial Board
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
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1. Mission, Values and Scope 2. Editorial freedom 3. Copyright and authors’ rights 4. Publication fees 5. ORCID 6. Authorship criteria 7. Authorship changes 8. Acknowledgments 9. Support in writing 10. Corresponding author 11. Cover letter 12. Conflicts of interest and financial support 13. Confidentiality policy
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14. Originality 15. Publication ethics and patient consent 16. Results and registration of clinical trials 17. Data sharing policy 18. Preprints policy 19. Plagiarism policy 20. Fast-track publication 21. Peer-review 22. Proof-reading 23. Erratum 24. Retractions 25. Submission guidelines
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1. MISSION, VALUES AND SCOPE Mission
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Acta Médica Portuguesa (AMP) is the official scientific journal of the Portuguese Medical Association and has been published continuously since 1979, indexed in PubMed/Medline since its first issue. It has had an Impact Factor awarded by Journal Citation Reports - Clarivate Analytics since 2010. It is a peer-reviewed journal that publishes in open access without article processing fees, aimed at the monthly publication of high-quality scientific papers in the biomedical field, covering different areas of medical knowledge, with the aim of supporting doctors in better clinical decisions. AMP publishes original articles, reviews, clinical cases, and editorials, among other formats, addressing clinical, scientific, social, political and economic factors that influence health. Articles by authors from any country, written either in Portuguese or in English are accepted by AMP.
Values
Scope The AMP aims to be recognized as a medical journal of international reference, promoting high-quality scientific publication, and giving priority to original clinical, translational, epidemiological, multicentre, and basic science research. It also aims to be a forum for the publication of clinical guidelines and a contribution to the international amplification of Portuguese medical research.
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2. EDITORIAL FREEDOM
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The AMP follows the International Committee of Medical Journals Editors (ICMJE), adopting the World Association of Medical's definition of editorial freedom, advocating that editors-in-chief have full authority over all the editorial content of their journal and the publication schedule of that content. The Portuguese Medical Association, as owner of the AMP, does not interfere in the process of evaluation, selection, programming or editing of any manuscript and the Editor-in-Chief has full editorial independence. |
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3. COPYRIGHT AND AUTHORS’ RIGHTS
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All the articles published in the AMP are open access and comply with the requirements of funding agencies or academic institutions. The AMP is governed by the terms of the Creative Commons ‘Attribution – Non-Commercial Use - (CC-BY-NC)’ license, regarding the use by third parties. The approval for the reproduction of figures, tables, etc. from other publications is the author’s responsibility. After an article is sent to peer review, the authors will be asked to complete the ICMJE “Copyright Liability and Copyright Sharing Statement and the “Declaration of Potential Conflicts of Interest”. An e-mail will be sent to the corresponding author to acknowledge receipt of the manuscript and updating the status of the article. After publication, the authors are authorised to make their articles available in repositories of their institutions of origin, as long as they always mention where they were published and in compliance with the Creative Commons license. |
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4. PUBLICATION FEES
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No processing fees (for submission of publication) will be charged. |
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5. ORCID
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The ORCID ID of the corresponding author will be required; it is also recommended that the ORCID IDs of the co-authors is provided. It is our belief that an increased use and integration of ORCID IDs will be beneficial to the entire scientific community. Further information and registration details are available at ORCID.org. |
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6. AUTHORSHIP CRITERIA AND AUTHORSHIP FORM
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The AMP follows the guidelines on authorship recommended by the ICMJE in the Statement on Authorship and Contribution. Statement of individual contributions signed by each author All those designated as authors must meet the four criteria for authorship as follows and all those who meet the four criteria must be identified as authors. Collaborators who do not meet the four criteria for authorship but have contributed to the study or manuscript should be acknowledged in the Acknowledgements section and their contribution should be specified. The acquisition of funding, data collection or general supervision do not in themselves constitute crieteria for Authorship. At the time of submission, authors must declare whether any artificial intelligence (AI) assisted- technologies were used (e.g. Large Language models, chatbots, etc). The use of AI should be declared in the cover letter, the acknowledgments section, or the methods section, as appropriate. The use of AI in writing, editing, or reviewing the article should be declared in the acknowledgments section, while the use of AI for data collection and analysis should be declared in the Methods section. AI is not an author: no AI tool can meet one of the basic criteria for authorship, i.e. it cannot take responsibility for the accuracy, completeness, and originality of the article's content. Therefore, no AI tool, such as ChatGPT, can be listed as an author. Each manuscript must have a “Corresponding Author”. The corresponding author should obtain written permission from all those mentioned in the acknowledgements. These acknowledgments are free text and may be simple emails addressed to the corresponding author and collated by him into a single document and uploaded to the AMP’s website as a supplementary document to the submission. The Authorship should refer to: 1) Those who had a significant and direct intellectual contribution to the design and writing of the manuscript; 2) Those having participated in data analysis and interpretation; 3) Those having participated in writing the manuscript, review of versions and critical review of the content, in addition to the final approval of the version for publication; 4) Those who agree that are responsible for the accuracy and integrity of all the work. When a large multi-centre group conducts the work, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. These individuals must fully meet the authorship criteria. Obtaining financial support, collecting data or general supervision of the working group do not in themselves explain the authorship.
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7. AUTHORSHIP CHANGES
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It is the corresponding author’s responsibility to ensure that the list of authors is correct as far as the online submission form and the submitted text are concerned. Any changes to the list of authors, including the removal or addition of authors that occurs between the initial submission and the acceptance for publication will require a written agreement of all the authors. New authors are required to confirm their full compliance with AMP’s authorship criteria. No authorship changes (addition or removal) will be allowed after the manuscript is accepted for publication. |
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8. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
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All contributors who do not meet the authorship criteria should be listed in the Acknowledgements section. Examples of people who may be acknowledged include those having provided purely technical help or a department head who provided only general support. A letter or email should be sent by each person quoted in the acknowledgments section to the corresponding author authorising the inclusion of their name. |
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9. SUPPORT IN WRITING
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Individuals aiding in writing the article obtained, for instance, from a specialist communication company, do not qualify as authors and, therefore, should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors should disclose in writing any assistance obtained - including the name of the individual company and level of input - identifying the entity that supported this. The disclosure of language polishing services is not required. |
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10. CORRESPONDING AUTHOR
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The corresponding author will act on behalf of all co-authors as the preferred correspondent with the editorial team during the submission and review process. Any author can be corresponding author, but only one author can perform this role. The corresponding author will be held responsible for:
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11. COVER LETTER
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The cover letter is a communication addressed to the Editor, explaining why the journal should consider the publication of the manuscript. All cover letters must include the following statements:
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12. CONFLICTS OF INTEREST AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT
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Any potential conflicts of interest in the performance of their duties must be identified and declared by all those involved in the peer review and publication process - including authors, reviewers, editors, and members of the WAP editorial board. This includes disclosing any relationships that could be perceived as potential sources of conflict. The accuracy of the contents and opinions expressed in the articles are the sole responsibility of their authors. Authors are required to disclose all financial and personal relationships that may influence their work. Any conflicts of interest must be clearly stated to avoid ambiguity. All authors must complete the Declaration of Conflicts of Interest template (ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest). These documents should be collected by the Corresponding Author and uploaded to the AMP's electronic platform as a Supplementary Document to the respective submission. In accordance with ICMJE guidelines, definitions and terms for such disclosures include:
This information will be kept confidential during the review of the manuscript by the reviewers and will not influence the editorial decision, but will be published if the paper is accepted for publication. If there are no conflicts, authors should mention this fact. Examples of statements:
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13. CONFIDENTIALITY POLICY
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Submitted manuscripts are considered CONFIDENTIAL and EMBARGOED from the moment of submission. In accordance with the embargo policy, no information other than that contained in the abstract may be made public prior to publication of the manuscript. Manuscripts that contain a substantial amount of repeated information, previously published or made public by other means are not eligible, unless they are presented in the form of an abstract or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis.. The confidentiality and embargo policies stipulate that, until the embargo is lifted, the authors are not authorised to publish or share the information with third parties who may disclose or publish it by other means. |
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14. ORIGINALITY
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Manuscripts must contain original material that has not yet been published or made available elsewhere. However, authors are allowed to submit and present abstracts (as oral presentations or in poster format) at scientific meetings. The title page and cover letter must include a statement proving the originality of the work, as well as disclosing any previous abstracts, presentations, reports or publications containing material that could be considered to overlap with the current submission. Any manuscript that is currently under review in another journal will not be accepted for review by the AMP. Authors may register their results in clinical trial databases or submit these to government regulatory agencies (e.g. FDA or EMA) without this being considered a prior or overlapping publication. AMP follows the guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors on the duplication of publications - Overlapping Publications. Whenever appropriate, the AMP may evaluate the possibility of co-publishing guidelines/consensus manuscripts with a limited number of other journals, provided that the following conditions are met:
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15. PUBLICATION ETHICS AND PATIENT CONSENT
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Authors are encouraged by AMP to refer to the guidelines of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) - International Standards for Authors - in this regard. Medical research involving human subjects should be conducted in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki, which has been updated in October 2024. Submitted manuscripts must comply with the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals. In addition, all articles describing studies on human subjects must state in the Methods section that the Ethics Committee provided (or waived - and in this case, the reason for the waiver) ethical approval. The full name and institution of the ethics committee must be provided, as well as the approval number. In accordance with the ICMJE recommendations on the protection of research participants, authors should avoid providing identifiable information unless it is strictly necessary for the submission. In this case, the identifiable data of the participants should be anonymised in the manuscript. In the case where any essential identifiable information is required, the authors should confirm that the individual in question has provided written consent for the use of this information in the publication. An informed consent for the disclosure of individual cases or case series must be included in the text of the manuscript. A statement from the patient(s) or a legally authorised representative authorising the publication of the patient's information and images is mandatory. Authors are responsible for obtaining informed consent from everyone included in photographs, videos, detailed descriptions or imaging tests, even after attempting to conceal their identity. Names, initials, or other forms of identification should be removed from photographs or images, unless they are generated directly by the equipment on which they were obtained from, as indicated in the chapter on Tables and Figures. Personal data, including occupation or residence, should be omitted, except when these are epidemiologically relevant to the work. Authors should ensure that they do not present data that would allow the unequivocal identification of individuals. If this is not possible, an informed consent should be obtained from those involved. Blackout bars or similar devices do not anonymize patients in clinical imaging; therefore, an appropriate consent is always required. The AMP does not publish studies involving animals. |
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16. RESULTS AND REGISTRATION OF CLINICAL TRIALS
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The AMP supports initiatives promoting the transparent disclosure of clinical trial results. The ICMJE has adopted the World Health Organization’s definition of a clinical trial, which is described as ‘any research study that prospectively assigns human participants, individually or in groups, to one or more health-related interventions with the aim of evaluating their health outcomes’. This definition covers phase I to IV trials. The ICMJE defines health-related interventions as ‘any intervention used to modify a biomedical or health-related outcome’ and health-related outcomes as ‘any biomedical or health-related measure obtained in patients or participants’. The registration of clinical trials in a public database approved by the World Health Organization, prior to the enrolment of the first participant, is an essential condition for the publication of clinical trial data in the WAP, in accordance with the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE). Trials must be registered before the recruitment of participants (‘prospective trial registration’). No registration is required for purely observational studies (in which the assignment of a medical intervention is not defined by the investigator). The clinical trial registration number (TRN) and the date of registration should be mentioned at the end of the article's abstract. |
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17. DATA SHARING POLICY
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The AMP suggests that the data generated by the research supporting the article should be made available as soon as possible, whenever legally and ethically feasible. It is recommended that the authors ensure that their data are available in public repositories (whenever these are available and appropriate), and that they are presented in the main manuscript or in additional files, whenever possible in an editable format (e.g. spreadsheet, and not as PDF). The AMP requires a data availability statement, which must be included at the end of each manuscript. As regards clinical trials of drugs or medical devices, the declaration should state at least that the relevant data of each patient, duly anonymised, is available upon justified request to the authors. The following format is suggested for the data availability statement:
Whenever data are not available, the following statement should be indicated:
Authors may be asked to make available the raw data on which they based their article during the review process and up to 10 years following the publication. |
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18. PREPRINT POLICY
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The AMP may consider the publication of manuscripts containing information previously published on preprint servers (e.g. medRxiv). However, authors cannot submit their articles to a preprint server after submission to the AMP. Whenever a report has been published on a preprint server before the manuscript is submitted, this must be acknowledged during the submission process. In addition, a link to the document on the preprint server must be provided so that reviewers and editors can evaluate the preprint information and compare it with the submitted manuscript. If the manuscript is accepted, the AMP will include the link in the published article. Failure to acknowledge prior disclosure of research on preprint servers or similar databases will jeopardise the status of submission. During the peer review process, no reviews should be sent to the preprint server. If the manuscript is eventually accepted for publication, no changes should be posted to the preprints server until the final manuscript is published online by AMP. Finally, when the manuscript is published in AMP, any subsequent changes, including errata, must be submitted, approved and published by the AMP before any updates are made to the preprint document. Violation of this preprint policy will be considered a reason for withdrawal of the article. |
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19. PLAGIARISM POLICY
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Plagiarism, whether intentional or not, is a serious violation. We define plagiarism as the reproduction of another work with at least 25% similarity and without proper citation. If evidence of plagiarism is found before or after acceptance, or following the publication of the article, the author will be given an opportunity to refute the allegation. If the arguments presented are not considered satisfactory, the manuscript may be rejected or withdrawn, and the author may be sanctioned with the suspension of publication for a period defined by the Editor-in-Chief. |
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20. FAST-TRACK PUBLICATION
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A fast-track publication system is available for urgent and important manuscripts that meet AMP’ requirements for expedited review and publication. Fast-track publication can be requested through the manuscript submission process, clearly indicating the reason why the manuscript should be considered for expedited review and publication. The Editorial Board will decide whether the manuscript is suitable for expedited publication and will communicate its decision within 48 hours. If the Editor-in-Chief finds the manuscript unsuitable for expedited publication, the manuscript may be proposed for the normal review process, or the authors may withdraw their submission. The editorial decision on manuscripts accepted for expedited review will be made within five working days. If the manuscript is accepted for publication, the AMP will aim to publish it ahead of print within 15 days. |
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21. PEER-REVIEW
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All research articles and virtually all other types of articles that are published in AMP undergo a peer review process. Reviewers are bound to comply with the confidentiality of the peer review process and not reveal any details of a manuscript or its review during or after the peer review process. If reviewers wish to involve a colleague in the review process, a permission from the Editor is required. Reviewers should inform the editorial team if artificial intelligence-assisted technology was used to perform the review. Manuscripts should be written in a clear, concise and direct style. These must not have been published, in whole or in part, or submitted for publication elsewhere. Manuscripts are initially evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief and may be rejected at this stage, without being sent to reviewers. Final acceptance or rejection rests with the Editorin-Chief or, in the event of a conflict of interest on his part, with one of the Deputy Editors, who reserves the right to refuse any material for publication. The AMP adopts a rigorous peer review process in a single-blind format, using experts from outside the journal who volunteer their time on a pro bono basis. The manuscripts received are sent to experts in their own fields, who must provide their comments, including clear recommendations: acceptance, acceptance subject to minor or major modifications, or rejection. Artificial intelligence (AI) assisted technologies should be used with caution for evaluation/review purposes, as their use in manuscript processing may violate confidentiality. Thus, AI tools cannot be used to make any review easier, as uploading a manuscript to an unauthorised platform or AI software is considered a breach of confidentiality. Just as authors should be careful about the accuracy and objectivity of AI-generated text, reviewers should also be aware that AI-generated peer review comments may be inaccurate, incorrect, or biased. During the evaluation, the articles may be a) Accepted for publication without any changes. b) Accepted with modifications proposed by the scientific consultants. c) Rejected. The timeline for this process has been defined as follows:
The editor’s final decision for acceptance-rejection of a submitted paper is based on the following criteria: I. Originality: original subject and/or method, with valuable information and presentation of new results or confirmation of previously verified results. II. Timeliness and/or novelty: topic that is on the agenda of scientific meetings or communications or is a new subject. III. Relevance: applicability of the results to solve real issues in clinical practice. IV. Innovation and relevance: advances in scientific and technical knowledge and/or in clinical practice. V. Reliability and scientific validity: high methodological quality. VI. Presentation: good writing and text organisation (good logical coherence and presentation of the material). Even though the Editors and Reviewers make every effort to ensure the technical and scientific quality of the manuscripts, the final responsibility for the content (namely the accuracy of the observations as well as the opinions expressed) is the sole responsibility of the Authors. |
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22. PROOF-READING
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The proofs, edited by AMP’s technical and language polishing services, will be sent to the Authors, with an indication of the review deadline according to AMP’s publication requirements. The review must be approved by the corresponding author. Authors must review the text within 5 days, to approve the changes and to communicate any suggestions. Proofs will be sent to the Authors before the article is published for approval of the layout and identification of any typographical errors. At this stage, no changes can be made to the article by the Authors, other than corrections of minor typographical and/or spelling errors or corrections to the layout. Failure to comply with the proposed deadline disclaims the AMP from accepting the review by the Authors in any of these stages and the review can be carried out exclusively by the AMP’s services. |
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23. ERRATA
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Any changes, amendments or retractions to a previously published article will be published by the AMP whenever any errors or omissions with a significant influence on the interpretation of data or information are identified following its publication. Any post-publication changes will take the form of an erratum. |
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24. RETRACTIONS
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It is assumed by the Reviewers and Editors that the Authors report work based on honest observations. However, if there is substantial doubt regarding the honesty or integrity of the work, submitted or published, the Editor will inform the Authors of any concern and may ask for clarification by the author’s sponsoring institution and/or employing institution. Therefore, in case that the published paper is considered misleading, it will be retracted by the AMP. Whenever this method of investigation fails to reach a satisfactory conclusion, the Editor may choose to conduct his own investigation and to publish a note of concern about the conduct or integrity of the paper. The Editor-in-Chief may decide to report the situation to the authors’ institution in accordance with the procedures recommended by the COPE - Committee on Publication Ethics. |
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25. SUBMISSION GUIDELINES
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Language The title, abstract and keywords should be presented in English and Portuguese. Manuscripts submitted to the AMP should be clearly written in European Portuguese and/or in English of a reasonable level. In the latter case, AMP reserves the right to require a review of any article by a professional native English speaker. This review is the Authors’ responsibility.
Paper Submission Submitting a manuscript implies (i) that the work described has not been previously published (except as an abstract, as part of a published lecture or academic thesis), (ii) that it is not under consideration for publication in another journal, (iii) that it has been approved by all the authors and, tacitly or explicitly, by the competent authorities at the institution where the work was carried out. Furthermore, it implies that, if it is accepted for publication, it will not be published elsewhere in the same format, in English or in any other language, including in electronic format. All the manuscripts must be accompanied by a cover letter. This should include an assurance that the manuscript is not under simultaneous consideration by any other journal. The Authors’ potential conflicts of interest should be declared in the cover letter, as well as in a statement regarding their authorship. To verify the originality, the article can be checked by a similarity check service. Submissions that do not comply with these instructions may be returned for reformulation and resubmission. Manuscripts should be submitted to the AMP website.
Contact In case of questions during submission, please contact: depeditorial@actamedicaportuguesa.com.
Use of word processing software The text should be submitted in single column format. The use of “spell check” and “grammar check” functions of your word processor is recommended to avoid unnecessary errors. Manuscripts should be submitted as a text file in Word (.DOC or .DOCX), as a continuous text, with the same font style format. Texts should be formatted in “Arial” font, size 10 with single spacing. Titles and subtitles should be in bold and in font size 12.
General Guidance for Study Submission Texts should be prepared according to the guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors: Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (ICMJE Recommendations). The AMP recommends that the EQUATOR network reporting guidelines should be followed, depending on the type of study: ● Randomised controlled trials (CONSORT). ● Systematic reviews and meta-analyses* (PRISMA) and protocols (PRISMA-P). ● Observational studies (STROBE). ● Case reports (CARE). ● Qualitative research (COREQ). ● Diagnostic / prognostic studies (STARD). ● Economic evaluations (CHEERS). ● Pre-clinical animal studies (ARRIVE). * The authors of systematic reviews should also provide a link to an additional file from the ‘Methods’ section, with detailed search strategy. Manuscripts are submitted to blind peer review by at least two anonymous reviewers, except where otherwise stated. Final acceptance or rejection rests with the Editor-in-Chief and/or the Deputy Editors, who reserve the right to reject any material for publication. Manuscripts should be written in a clear, concise, direct style so that they are intelligible to the reader, including physicians from other specialties and the public. When contributions are considered suitable for publication based on scientific content, the Editor-in-Chief reserves the right to modify the texts to remove ambiguity and repetition and to improve communication between authors and the readers. In the case that significant changes are required, the manuscript will be returned to the author for revision. Manuscripts that do not comply with the instructions for authors may be returned for modification before being reviewed.
Article Types Articles of the following types are accepted by the AMP for publication: a) Original Articles reporting clinical or basic research (protocols of systematic reviews or clinical trials, clinical trials, cohort studies, case-control studies, other observational studies). b) Narrative Review Articles. c) Systematic Reviews with or without meta-analysis. d) Perspectives. e) Case Reports. f) Medical Images. g) Editorials. h) Letters to the Editor. l) Guidelines. Authors should indicate in the cover letter which type of manuscript is submitted for publication. j) Study Protocols. k) Short Articles.
3. Articles organisation First page/title page: I. Title page - Concise, specific and informative title written in Portuguese and in English, with no abbreviations and no more than 120 characters. A title complement with no more than 40 characters (including spaces) can be included. - Short title for heading in the following pages.
II. Authors and Affiliations In the authorship line, list the name of all Authors (first and last name) and their affiliations (service, institution, city, country), with no more than three per author. Authors’ names must be accompanied by their ORCID registration numbers.
III. Corresponding Author Clearly indicate who will ensure the correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, as well as after publication. The postal and e-mail address of the corresponding author responsible for correspondence concerning the manuscript should be indicated.
IV. Funding Identify all public or private sources of funding, including grants, which contributed to the completion of the work. Indicate whether there are conflicts of interest.
V. Under the heading “Ethical Considerations”, the declaration of Human and Animal Protection, confidentiality of data, informed consent and conflicts of interest, should be included in this title page.
VI. Previous Awards and Presentations Any awards and presentations of the study that took place prior to the submission of the manuscript should be mentioned.
VII. Abstract and Keywords A concise and factual abstract is required, representing the content of the article alone, written in Portuguese and English. Any information that is not contained in the manuscript cannot be included in the abstract. The abstract cannot refer to the text, cannot contain citations, abbreviations or reference to figures. At the end of the abstract, no more than 5 keywords in English must be included using the terminology found in the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH).
VIII. Sections and Components - Cover letter. - Title page (excluding acknowledgements). - Abstract. - Introduction. - Methods. - Results. - Discussion. - Conclusion. - Authors’ contribution statement. - Acknowledgements. - Conflicts of interest. - Financial support. - References. - Figure captions. - Tables. - Figures
Text a) Original Articles These include manuscripts not previously published describing clinical, pre-clinical, epidemiological research, clinical trials, clinical observations and other relevant research that are based on solid case series of patients, validated analytical methods and appropriate statistical evaluation. Original articles should follow the following structure: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Key Messages, Acknowledgements (when applicable), References, Tables and Figures. A structured abstract is required. Words: Maximum 4000 words (excluding abstract, figures and tables). Abstract: Maximum 350 words. Figures/Tables: Maximum 6. Figures should not be composed of more than six images each. Key messages: Include a section with strengths, limitations of the study, after the abstract with bullet points (100 words maximum). This section shoud not have more than 5 points. This section will be published as a summary box following the abstract in the final published article. References: Maximum 50.
b) Narrative Review Articles Reviews should cover topics considered relevant to the journal’s audience and encompass the current state of clinical knowledge or practice, integrating recent advances with accepted principles and practices or summarising and analysing the consensus view of controversial issues in the knowledge of practice. An unstructured abstract is required. Words: Maximum 3500 words (excluding abstract, figures and tables). Abstract: Maximum 350 words. Figures/Tables: maximum 4. Figures should be composed of no more than six images each. References: Maximum 75.
c) Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses Systematic Reviews may or may not use statistical methods (meta-analysis) aimed at analyzing and summarizing the results of the studies. Systematic Reviews may be presented in the [Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion] format. The subject should be clearly defined. A systematic review should be aimed to reach an evidence-based conclusion. In Methods, a clear indication of the strategy for literature search, data extraction, evidence classification and analysis should be provided. PRISMA guidelines should be followed and the protocol should be registered at PROSPERO. A structured abstract that faithfully shows the body of the manuscript is required. Words: Maximum 4000 words (excluding abstract, figures and tables). Abstract: Maximum 350 words. Figures/Tables: Maximum 6. Figures should be composed of no more than six images each. References: Maximum 100.
d) Case Reports Case Reports should include the following sections: Introduction, Case Description, Discussion. CARE guidelines should be followed. Considering their nature, case reports should have a limited number of authors - ideally no more than five. If there are six or more co-authors, the letter of submission should clearly state the role of each author in the manuscript, to explain their inclusion in the line of authorship according to the ICMJE criteria. Authors must include written informed consent (patient / next of kin / legal guardian) for publication, according to the template available at our website. If the patient has died, consent for publication should be obtained from the next of kin or legal representative. In case a minor or vulnerable patient is described, consent for publication must be obtained from parents / legal guardian. The complete consent form should be uploaded to the AMP website and submitted as a Supplementary Document; it will be treated confidentially. Impairing patient identification by omitting scientifically irrelevant data is acceptable, but changing these data is not. Words: Maximum 1000 words (excluding abstract, figures and tables). Abstract: Maximum 150 words. Figures/Tables: Maximum 5. Figures should be composed of no more than six images each. References: Maximum15. Authors: Maximum 5.
e) Medical Images These short articles are intended for the disclosure of new and clinically relevant images of unusual or striking examples of clinical entities, laboratory/imaging tests or therapeutic procedures, with a brief explanatory text. Authors must include written informed consent for publication according to the model available at aAMP website. If the patient has died, consent for publication must be obtained from the next of kin or legal representative. In case a minor or vulnerable patient is described, consent for publication must be obtained from parents / legal guardian. The complete consent form should be uploaded to the AMP website and submitted as a Supplementary Document; it will be treated confidentially. Words: Maximum 150 words (excluding abstract, figures and tables). Abstract: None. Figures: One figure composed of two images or two figures composed of a single image each. References: Maximum 6. Authors: Maximum 3.
f) Perspectives These articles may cover a wide range of subjects of interest in the field of healthcare : current or emerging problems, health management and policy, history of medicine, links with society, epidemiology, etc. Words: Maximum 1200 words (excluding figures and tables). Abstract: None. Figures/Tables: Maximum 2. References: Maximum 10.
g) Editorials Editorials are the responsibility of the editorial group, requested by invitation of the Editor-in-Chief and will include comments on current topics or on articles published in the journal. Words: Maximum 1200 words (excluding figures and tables). Abstract: None. Figures/Tables: Maximum 2 References: Maximum 5.
h) Letters to the Editor Letters to the Editor consist of critical comments on an article published in the journal, critical analysis or position statements concerning topics of interest in the field of healthcare, namely health policy and medical education or a brief description of a case report. Words: Maximum 400 words (excluding figures and tables). Abstract: None Figures/Tables: 1One, composed of a maximum of 2 images. References: Maximum 5. Authors: Maximum 5.
i) Guidelines Medical societies, specialty colleges, official entities and/or groups of physicians wishing to publish clinical practice recommendations in the AMP should previously contact the Editorial Board and submit the full text and the version to be published. The Editor-in-Chief may require the exclusive publication of the recommendations in the AMP. It may be agreed that an abridged version will be published in the printed edition, in addition to the publication of the full version as an Appendix. Words: Maximum 4000 words (excluding figures and tables). Abstract: Maximum 350 words. Figures/Tables: Maximum 6; figures should be composed of no more than six images each. References: Maximum 100.
j) Study Protocols A study protocol (“methods paper”) describes in detail the plan for the conduct of a specific clinical study and explains the objective and the role of the study, as well as the way to carry it out. AMP believes that the publication of study protocols will help improve the standards of medical research. Protocol articles should report planned or ongoing research studies. If the data collection is concluded, the article will not be considered. We incentivize the submission of protocol articles in an initial phase of the study. Study protocols must meet the following criteria to be considered for publication:
Words: Maximum 2500 words (excluding figures and tables) Abstract: Maximum 300 words Figures / Tables: Maximum 3. Figures should not be composed of more than six images each. References: Maximum 30 Authors: No limit
k) Short Reports Preliminary results or new discoveries could give rise to short reports. The text should be organized in a clear and coherent way, following the structure of introduction, methods, results, and discussion (with conclusion), but without the use of explicitly separate sections. Words: Maximum 1000 words (excluding figures, tables and references) Abstract: Maximum 200 words, no subtitles. Figures / Tables: Maximum 2. References : Maximum 10. Authors: No limit.
Manuscript preparation References I. In-text Citations References should be numbered consecutively in order of appearance in the text. Make sure that all references cited in the text are also present in the reference list (and vice versa). References should be listed by using Arabic numerals in the order in which they are cited in the text. References to personal communications and unpublished data should be made directly in the text and should not be numbered. Personal communications must be duly authorised by the sender of the communications, with the authors assuming responsibility for the authorisation. Citation of a reference as “in press” implies that the item has been accepted for publication. Journal names should be abbreviated according to Medline style. References to journal articles should include the name of the first author followed by the names of the other authors (up to 6; et al. should be used thereafter), the title of the article, the name of the journal and the year of publication, volume and pages, and DOI. Make sure that the data provided in the references are correct. Be careful when copying references, as they may already contain errors. The list of references should be added as part of the text, and never as a footnote. Specific codes of the reference management program are not allowed. Authors are responsible for correct reference citation and must be able to attest that the references support the associated statement. References should be checked using an electronic bibliographic source, such as PubMed, or hard copies of the original sources, to minimise errors in bibliographic citations, Authors are responsible for ensuring that none of the references cite retracted articles, except in the context of reference to the retraction itself.
II. Format A detailed description of the formats of different reference types can be found in “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals”. All authors should be listed (up to 6); et al. should be added if there are more than six authors. The title of the article, name of the journal, year, volume, and pages should be included.
III. Reference style Text: Appropriate references in the text should be indicated by superscript number(s). The authors may be referred to, but the reference number should always be given. List: Sort the references in the list in the order in which they appear in the text. Examples: Article reference:
1. With less than 6 authors Miguel C, Mediavilla MJ. Abordagem actual da gota. Acta Med Port. 2011;24:791-8. 2. 2.With more than 6 authors Norte A, Santos C, Gamboa F, Ferreira AJ, Marques A, Leite C, et al. Pneumonia Necrotizante: uma complicação rara. Acta Med Port. 2012;25:51-53. 3. In press Câmara Pestana P, Ferreira C, Santos AL, Jerónimo J, Ganança L. Suicide Attempt in a Patient with Sibutramine Associated Psychosis. Acta Med Port. 2021 (in press). doi: 10.20344/amp.14304. Book reference: 1. With Authors: Moore, K. Essential Clinical Anatomy. 4th ed. Philadelphia: Wolters Kluwer Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2011. 2. With editor: Gilstrap LC 3rd, Cunningham FG, VanDorsten JP, editors. Operative obstetrics. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002. Book chapter reference: Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human solid tumors. In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, editors. The genetic basis of human cancer. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002. p. 93-113.
Web references The full URL, as well as the date when the document was consulted should at least be given. Any other information, when available (name of the authors, dates, references to a source publication, etc.) should also be given. Metagenomics: sequences from the environment [Internet]. Bethesda: National Library of Medicine, National Center for Biomedical Information; 2006 [cited 2020 Apr 20]. Available from: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/ bv.fcgi?rid=metagenomics.TOC Preprint Gandhi R, Piscitello GM, Parker WF, Michelson K. Regional Variation in COVID-19 Scarce Resource Allocation Protocols. Preprint at: medRxiv 2021.01.14.21249845; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2021.01.14.21249845 Footnotes Footnotes should be avoided. Whenever required, these should be numbered consecutively and inserted in the appropriate page. Acknowledgments (optional) These should come after the text and before the references, to acknowledge those who contributed to the study but who do not carry authorship weight, including all sources of support, whether financial, technological or consulting, as well as individual contributions. As mentioned above, prior written consent must be obtained from those identified in this section.
Abbreviations No abbreviations or acronyms should be used in the title and abstract and their use in the text should be limited. Non-standard abbreviations should be written out in full on first use and followed by the abbreviated form in brackets unless the abbreviation is a standard unit of measurement. Whenever a term is only used 1 to 4 times throughout the text, it should be written out in full, non-abbreviated.
Units of Measurement The units of the International System of Units must be used. Measurements of length, height, weight and volume must be expressed in metric system units (meter, kilogram or litre) or their decimal multiples. Temperatures must be given in degrees Celsius (°C), blood pressure in millimetres of mercury (mmHg) and haemoglobin in g/dL. All haematological and biochemical measurements must be referred to in the metric system according to the International System of Units (SI).
Drugs and Medical Devices All medicines and products should be accurately identified by their international nonproprietary name (INN). The use of registered trademarks of drugs is not recommended; nevertheless, whenever this is imperative, the name of the product should be inserted in lowercase after the INN name, in brackets, followed by the registered trademark symbol in superscript (®). The same principle applies to medical devices.
Gene Nomenclature Genes and related structures should be assigned the official names and symbols provided by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) or the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee. Prior to submission of a manuscript reporting large genomic datasets (e.g., protein or DNA sequences), datasets should be deposited in a publicly available database, such as NCBI’s GenBank and a full accession number (and version number, whenever appropriate) should be provided in the Methods section.
Tables and Figures Tables/Figures should be numbered in the order they are cited in the text and marked with Arabic numerals and identification. Each Figure and Table included in the work must be referred in the text: “An abnormal immune response may be at the origin of the disease symptoms (Fig. 2)”; “This is associated to two other lesions (Table 1)”. Figure: When referred in the text, this should be abbreviated as Fig., while Table should not be abbreviated. In the legends, both words should be written in full. Each Table and Figure must be accompanied by a brief and clear legend. Legends should be self-explanatory (no need to refer to the text). As for the Figures, these should contain explicit information regarding individual values, averages or medians, as well as the representation of standard deviation, confidence intervals and sample size (n). The images included in figures should contain identifiers of scientifically relevant aspects (arrows and asterisks). In these cases, the original/source files will be subsequently requested by the AMP’s graphics team, which will be responsible for reproducing the necessary signs or identifiers in vector file format. Each Table must be used to show results, lists of individual data, but must not duplicate the results described in the text. They should be accompanied by a short but clear and explanatory title. The units of measurement should be indicated (in brackets below the name, at the top of each value category) and the numbers should be reduced to clinically significant decimal places. Letters (a, b, c, d, etc.) rather than symbols should be used for any explanatory notes in Tables. Patient photographs should go with the Informed Consent of the Patient or legal representative. Authors should submit the original files, which will be processed by the AMP’s graphics team (see technical specifications below). General principles:
The inclusion of figures and/or tables that were already published elsewhere implies the authorisation of the copyright holder (author or editor). Submission must be made separately from the text, according to the instructions in the AMP website. Figure files must be provided in high resolution, 800 dpi minimum for charts and 300 dpi minimum for photographs. The publication of coloured illustrations is free of charge; the AMP reserves the right to publish a black and white version in the printed version of the journal. The graphic material should be delivered in one of the following formats:
Permission for publication/reproduction In case of publication of tables and figures derived from or adapted from books or magazines, the authors are responsible for obtaining permission from the authors or the publishing house from which they are reproduced, and this should be submitted as a supplementary document.
Multimedia files Multimedia files should be sent separately and submitted as a Supplementary Document. The multimedia material should follow the production quality standards for publication without the need of any modification or editing. Acceptable files are MPEG, AVI or QuickTime formats.
Appendices When required, appendices should be used to present long or detailed surveys, descriptions of extensive mathematical calculations and/or lists of items, algorithms, surveys, and protocols. These should be presented in a separate document and submitted as Supplementary Document. The complete links (URLs) to the Appendices will be included by the AMP in the body of the manuscript and the complete files will be published without further editing in addition to the article. If there is more than one appendix, these should be identified as A, B, etc. Formulas and equations in appendices should be numbered separately: Eq. (A.1), Eq. (A.2), etc.; in a subsequent appendix, Eq. (B.1) and so on; likewise for tables and figures: Table A.1; FIG. A.1, etc.
Style The AMP follows the AMA Manual of Style, 11th edition and the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals.
FINAL NOTE: For a more complete clarification on this subject we recommend the reading of the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors). |
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