Submissions
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. I declare that all authors had a substantial contribution for this manuscript.
- 2. I declare that all authors approve the final version of the manuscript.
- 3. I declare that the manuscript is not under review of any other journal, and that it has not been published complete or partially in any other journal.
- 4. I declare that the manuscript has not been previously presented.
- 5. I declare that the article is an original contribution, that all the statements presented as facts are resulting from authors’ research, who are responsible for them.
- 6. I declare that the manuscript, complete or in parts, does not infringe any copyright and does not violate any privacy rights.
- 7. I declare that any authors’ conflict of interest regarding statements presented into the manuscript does not exist.
- 8. The authors declare that the procedures were followed according to the regulations established by the Clinical Research and Ethics Committee and to the Helsinki Declaration of the World Medical Association.
- 9. The authors declare having followed the protocols in use at their working center regarding patient’s data publication.
Author 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. 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. If the article is submitted in both languages, it is the authors’ responsibility to specify which is the main language of the article (the one in which it will be indexed).
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 Furthermore, it implies that, if it is accepted for publication, it will not be published elsewhere in the same format, in English or in any other language, including in electronic format.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. Articles can be checked with plagiarism checker software. Submissions failing to adhere to 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: [email protected].
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 bolded 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: ● Randomized 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 failing to adhere to the instructions for authors may be returned for modification before being reviewed.
Article Types Authors must state in their cover letter the type of manuscript being submitted for publication. 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. j) Study Protocols. k) Short Articles.
3. Articles organization 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, the name of all Authors must be listed (first and last name) and their affiliations (in a “Department, Institution, City, Country” format), 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, as well as the postal and e-mail address of the corresponding author responsible for correspondence concerning the manuscript.
IV. Funding Identify all public or private sources of funding, including grants, which contributed to the completion of the work.
V. 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 references 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. - Acknowledgements. - Authors’ contribution statement. - Conflicts of interest. - Financial support. - References. - Figure captions. - Tables. - Figures. - Graphical abstract.
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, and a graphical abstract is recommended. Words: No more than 4000 words (excluding abstract, figures and tables). Abstract: Structured and with no more than 350 words. Figures/Tables: No more than 6. Figures should not be composed of more than 6 images each. Key messages: A section with strengths and limitations of the study must be included after the abstract with bullet points (no more than 100 words). This section should not have more than 5 points. This section will be published as a summary box following the abstract in the final published article. References: No more than 50.
Graphical abstract: recommended. The graphical abstract is a single-panel image that conveys, immediately and visually, the main message (take-home message) of the article. It should provide a concise, pictorial and self-explanatory summary of the main conclusions. The aim is not to replace the article, but to facilitate a quick understanding and stimulate interest in reading it. The graphical abstract will be displayed in online search results, on the article page and in promotional content (e.g. social media), and will not be included within the PDF. Authors must submit an original image that clearly represents the content of the article, as a separate file via the submission system. The graphic summary should prioritize simplicity and clarity, even when the research is complex: • A structure with a clear beginning and end (reading from top to bottom or left to right). • Simple labels and minimal text. • Visual content (avoiding blocks of text). • Distinct from figures or diagrams included in the article. • The artwork used must be original. Technical requirements: • Format: PDF, TIFF, JPG or PNG • Dimensions: 1200 × 1200 pixels (300 dpi) • Font: Arial, 12–16 pt (smaller sizes are not legible online)
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 summarizing and analyzing the consensus view of controversial issues in the knowledge of practice. Words: No more than 3500 words (excluding abstract, figures and tables). Abstract: Unstructured, no more than 350 words. Figures/Tables: No more than 4. Figures should be composed of no more than 6 images each. References: No more than 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 at reaching 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. Words: No more than 4000 words (excluding abstract, figures and tables). Abstract: A structured abstract with no more than 350 words that faithfully shows the body of the manuscript is required. Figures/Tables: No more than 6. Figures should be composed of no more than six images each. References: No more than 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: No more than 1000 words (excluding abstract, figures and tables). Abstract: Unstructured, no more than 150 words. Figures/Tables: No more than 5. Figures should be composed of no more than 6 images each. References: No more than 15. Authors: No more than 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 the written informed consent for publication according to the model available at the AMP 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: No more than 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: No more than 6. Authors: No more than 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: No more than 1200 words (excluding figures and tables). Abstract: None. Figures/Tables: No more than 2. References: No more than 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: No more than 1200 words (excluding figures and tables). Abstract: None. Figures/Tables: No more than 2 References: No more than 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: No more than 400 words (excluding figures and tables). Abstract: None Figures/Tables: One, composed of a maximum of 2 images. References: No more than 5. Authors: No more than 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: No more than 4000 words (excluding figures and tables). Abstract: Unstructured; no more than 350 words. Figures/Tables: No more than 6; figures should be composed of no more than 6 images each. References: No more than 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: No more than 2500 words (excluding figures and tables) Abstract: Unstructured; no more than 300 words Figures / Tables: No more than 3. Figures should not be composed of more than 6 images each. References: No more than 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: No more than 1000 words (excluding figures, tables and references) Abstract: Unstructured; no more than 200 words. Figures / Tables: No more than 2. References: No more than 10. Authors: No limit.
Manuscript preparation References I. In-text Citations References should be numbered consecutively in order of appearance in the text. The authors must ensure that all references cited in the text are also present in the reference list (and vice versa). References should be listed by using superscript Arabic numerals in the same sequence 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 authorized by the sender of the communications, with the authors assuming responsibility for the authorization. Citation of a reference as “in press” implies that the item has been accepted for publication. Journal names should be abbreviated according to Medline NLM format. References to journal articles should include the name of the first author followed by the names of the other authors (no more than 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. The authors must ensure that the data provided in the references are correct. When copying references, please take into consideration that these may already contain errors. References must be included as citations within the body of the text; they must never be presented as footnotes. Specific codes used by reference management software are not permitted. Authors are responsible for accurate reference citations and must be able to attest that the references support the associated statement. References should be checked using a reliable electronic bibliographic source, such as PubMed, or hard copies of the original sources, to minimize errors in citations. Authors are responsible for ensuring that none of the references refer to retracted articles, except in the context of the retraction itself. Authors must also ensure that all references are authentic and were not artificially generated.
II. 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 main text and before the references, to acknowledge those who contributed to the study, but who do not carry authorship weight. All sources of support, whether financial, technological or consulting, as well as individual contributions will be acknowledged in this section, including the declaration regarding the use of AI.
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.
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 liter) or their decimal multiples. Temperatures must be given in degrees Celsius (°C), blood pressure in millimeters of mercury (mmHg) and hemoglobin in g/dL. All hematological and biochemical measurements must be referred 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 The official names and symbols provided by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) or the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee should be assigned to genes and related structures. 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 regards 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 authorization 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, at least 800 dpi for charts and at least 300 dpi for photographs. 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 for 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). |
