Rules for authors
The type and structure of the articles:
9.- Articles will be classified as:
Original article: Contribution aimed at disseminating original and unpublished research results, which can be replicated and/or generalised. Discursive formulations with a theorising effect and qualitative methodology research, in general, are also considered original articles. It must contain a maximum of 3500 words in the body of the article (introduction, method, results, discussion, conclusion). It must contain a minimum of 30 references. Title: in Spanish and English (with a maximum length of 15 words).
Short original articles: These have the same characteristics as the original articles but are shorter. It must contain a maximum of 1500 words in the body of the article (Introduction, method, results, discussion, conclusion). It must contain a minimum of 15 references. Title: in Spanish and English (with a maximum length of 15 words).
Review article: Contribution that uses a research method, presents the synthesis of multiple published studies and enables general conclusions, with respect to a particular area of study carried out in a systematic and orderly manner, favouring the deepening of knowledge of the subject under investigation. It must contain a maximum of 4000 words in the body of the article. It must contain a minimum of 70 references. Title: in Spanish and English (with a maximum length of 15 words).
Clinical communications: Papers of novel preliminary results; accompanied by analysis and discussion based on scientific research. It must contain a maximum of 1500 words in the body of the article. Must contain a minimum of 15 references. Title: in Spanish and English (with a maximum length of 15 words).
Reports and/or case reports: Attractive, clear, concise and didactic presentation of clinical cases. It must provide some novel teaching from discussions based on scientific research. It must contain a maximum of 1500 words in the body of the article. It must contain a minimum of 15 references. Title: in Spanish and English (with a maximum length of 15 words).
Epidemiological statistics. Epidemiological analyses and discussions based on scientific research. It must contain a maximum of 1500 words in the body of the article. It must contain a minimum of 15 references. Title: in Spanish and English (with a maximum length of 15 words).
Letter to the Editor: Contributions to articles already published in the Journal or on a topic related to the thematic area addressed in the Journal. . It must contain a maximum of 1000 words in the body of the article. Must contain a minimum of 6 references. Title: in Spanish and English (with a maximum length of 15 words).
10.- Body of the paper
The articles will be structured as follows:
a. Title: in Spanish and English (with a maximum length of 15 words).
b. Identification and affiliation of the authors: Each author will include their first and last names (surnames joined by a hyphen); e-mail address, institutional affiliation (indicating city and country) and ORCID (mandatory).
c.- Abstract: It must be presented in Spanish and English. Original articles must have the following structure: objectives, materials and methods, results and conclusions. Short original articles must present the same structure, but without subtitles. Other types of articles should have an informative and balanced synopsis of what has been done and what has been found. They should contain a maximum of 150 words.
d. Keywords: A minimum of three and a maximum of five should be proposed, in Spanish and English. The "descriptors in health sciences" of the Thesaurus of the Virtual Health Library (https://decs.bvsalud.org/es/) should be used, both in Spanish and English. Keywords should be in lower case, separated by a semicolon (;) and a space.
e.- Content of the article:
Articles should be structured in title, abstract, introduction, methodology, results and discussion, following the STROBE (Strenghtening the Reporting of Observational Studies in Epidemiology) Statement.
For further explanation and examples on the development of the different sections of an article, according to STROBE, see: http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0213-91112009000200015
1.- Original article
Abstract: Structured in: Objectives, Materials and methods, Results and Conclusions. In Spanish and English (150 words).
Keywords: A minimum of three and a maximum of 5 should be proposed, in Spanish and English. The "descriptors in health sciences" of the Thesaurus of the Virtual Health Library (http://decs.bvs.br/P/decs2020p.htm) should be used, both in Spanish and English. Keywords will be completely lowercase, separated by a semicolon (;) and a space.
- Introduction: Brief statement of the current state of the problem, background, justification and objectives of the study. The objective of the study should be presented at the end of the introduction.
- Materials and methods: Describe the methodology used, in a way that allows the reproduction of the study and the evaluation of the quality of the information. The type and design of the research, the characteristics of the population and how the sample was selected should be described. In some cases, it is useful to describe the study area. Detail the procedures carried out. If they have been previously described, cite the corresponding reference. Specify how the variables of interest were measured or defined. Mention the statistical procedures used. When medicinal plants are used, describe the collection and botanical identification procedures. Identify the drugs and chemical compounds used, with their generic name, doses and routes of administration. It may be subtitled for ease of presentation.
It is recommended to review international consensus for specific types of articles such as guidelines:
STROBE for observational studies; (http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0213-91112009000200015)
CONSORT for clinical trials; (https://n9.cl/gggdr) (https://n9.cl/mljph)
STARD for diagnostic test studies; (https://n9.cl/jyo7)
PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses (registration of the protocol in PROSPERO is recommended); (http://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2174-51452016000200010) (https://n9.cl/wfz0f)
CARE for case reports; (https://scielo.conicyt.cl/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0718-40262016000500015)
COREQ for qualitative studies; (https://academic.oup.com/intqhc/article/19/6/349/1791966)
CHEERS for economic evaluations; (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212109913001313?via%3Dihub)
SAGERS for sex and gender reporting in the study; (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0213911118300748)
ARRIVE for experimental animal studies; (https://redlacc.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/arrive-spanish.pdf)
Description of each scheme on the EQUATOR website: https://www.equator-network.org/
Outlines in Spanish of the specific types of articles: https://www.paho.org/hq/dmdocuments/2013/Uso-de-guias-en-sus-revistas.pdf
Code of ethics. Ethical considerations involved in the conduct of the study should be detailed. If the study involved human subjects or experimental animals, it should be mentioned that internationally required ethical standards were met. For human studies, the institutional ethics committee that approved the protocol should be identified. If required, the Editorial Board may request the Ethics Committee's approval and the informed consent of the study to be published. The Editorial Board will require approval of the study by an institutional ethics committee.
- Results: Present the results clearly, without including opinions or subjective interpretations. They may be complemented with tables or figures, which must not repeat the information presented in the text. They may include subtitles to facilitate their presentation.
- Discussion: It is recommended to consider the following aspects: main evidence from the study, contrast of evidence with other studies, strengths and limitations (including possible sources of bias), public health implications, ending with conclusions and recommendations.
- Acknowledgements: Where appropriate, specific acknowledgements should be made to whom and for what reason. Individuals included in this section should authorise their mention.
- References: It should have the references that were previously cited in the article (up to 30 references), according to the specifications mentioned in Table 1.
2.- Brief original
These are research articles that, due to their objectives, design and results, can be published in an abbreviated form. It has the following structure: title, abstract, keywords, introduction, the study (including methodology), findings (to show the results), discussion and bibliographical references. The maximum length is 150 words for the abstract, 1500 words for the content, six figures and/or tables, and up to 15 references. The relevance of the publication according to the period of execution of the study and generation of the data will be evaluated by the editorial committee. See table 1.
3.- Review
Review articles will be carried out by experts in the field. They must include an exhaustive, objective and systematised exploration of current information on a given topic of interest in public health or experimental medicine. It should be structured considering the following sections: title, abstract, keywords, introduction, search strategy, body of the article, conclusions and references. The maximum length is 150 words in the abstract, 4000 words in the content, six figures and/or tables, and up to 70 bibliographical references. See table 1.
4.- Epidemiological statistics
Analysis and discussions at epidemiological level, based on scientific research. It has the following structure: abstract, keywords, introduction, analysis, discussion (where the contribution or teaching of the article is highlighted) and references. The maximum length is 150 words in the abstract, 1500 words in the content, six figures and/or tables and up to 15 bibliographical references. See table 1.
5.- Clinical communications
Papers accompanied by analyses and discussions based on scientific research. It has the following structure: abstract, keywords, introduction, analysis, discussion (where the contribution or teaching of the article is highlighted) and references. The maximum length is 150 words in the abstract, 1500 words in the content, six figures and/or tables and up to 15 references. See table 1.
6.- Reports and/or case reports
The cases presented must be on diseases or conditions of public health interest. It has the following structure: abstract, keywords, introduction, case report, discussion (where the contribution or teaching of the article is highlighted) and bibliographical references. The maximum length is 150 words in the abstract, 1500 words in the content, six figures and/or tables and up to 15 bibliographical references. See table 1.
Patients are identified by correlative numbers, neither their initials nor the clinical record numbers of their hospital or institution are used, nor any other information that could identify them. Authors are required to request institutional permission for publication of the report and to declare whether they have received informed consent from the patient or family members.
Illustrations and/or photos should be described in detail. In the reproduction of microscopic slides, the magnification and methods of distinction should be made explicit. In the figure caption, the meaning of the acronyms used should be included.
7.- Letter to the editor
This section is open to all readers who send contributions that complement or discuss original articles or short original articles published and/or on a thematic area covered by the journal. In these cases, up to four authors and a maximum length of 1000 words; three tables and/or graphs and up to six references are allowed.
The maximum length of words for the title, keywords, content, figures, graphs and tables and the number of references, according to each article, is indicated in table 1.
Table 1. Maximum word length for title, abstract, keywords, content, figures, graphs and tables and number of references for each article:
Section Title (words) Abstract (words) Keywords Content (words) Figures, figures, graphs and tables References
Consulted
Original article 15 150 Min.3/Max.5 3500 6 30
Short originals 15 150 Min.3/Max.5 1500 6 20
Review Article 15 150 Min.3/Max.5 4000 6 70
Clinical communications 15 150 Min.3/Max.5 1500 6 15
Case reports and/or case reports 15 150 Min.3/Max.5 1500 6 15 15
Epidemiological statistics 15 150 Min.3/Max.5 1500 6 15 15
Letter to the Editor -- -- -- 1000 1 6
f.- References:
The VANCOUVER citation system will be used. In-text citations should be as follows:
- Direct quotations: This is that which is transcribed verbatim. It must be brief, less than five lines, inserted within the text between inverted commas, and the corresponding number is placed at the end, after the inverted commas and before the punctuation mark in brackets.
Example: "The gluten-free diet should be established only after the diagnosis has been confirmed, as this may alter the serological and histological results" 2.
- Indirect quotations: This is the mention of an author's ideas in the writer's own words. It is included in the text without inverted commas, and the reference number is written after the author's surname and before quoting his idea in brackets.
Example: As Vitoria 2 says, the gluten-free diet can alter serological and histological results. In the case of a paper by more than two authors, the first author is cited followed by the abbreviation "et al" and the reference number. If the author is not named, the number appears at the end of the sentence in brackets.
As Vitoria et al. 2 state, the gluten-free diet can alter serological and histological results. In the case of a paper by more than two authors, the first author is cited followed by the abbreviation "et al" and their reference number. If the author is not named, the number appears at the end of the sentence in brackets.
Example: The gluten-free diet may alter the serological and histological results and should therefore be established after confirming the diagnosis 2.
From the VANCOUVER system, references should be elaborated as follows:
- References should be numbered consecutively according to the order in which they are first mentioned in the text, without parentheses.
- All citations should appear in the list of references and the latter should all be cited within the text with consecutive Arabic numbering in brackets and with the order of appearance as they were cited in the text.
Example:
1.- Andrés Bello University, Library System. Guide to bibliographic references according to Vancouver Standards [Internet]. Santiago de Chile: Universidad Andrés Bello; 2012 [cited 8 Apr 2013]. Available from: https://biblioteca.unab.cl/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/Estilo-Vancouver_2019.pdf.
Vitoria JC, Bilbao JR. New developments in celiac disease. An Pediatr. 2013;78(1):1-5.
- Book: Author/s. Title. Volume. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; year. Laín Entralgo P. Historia de la medicina. Barcelona: Ediciones científicas y técnicas; 1998.
- Journal article: Authors of the article (6 authors maximum et al). Title of the article. Abbreviation of the journal. Year; Volume (number): pages. Vitoria JC, Bilbao JR. New developments in celiac disease. An Pediatr. 2013;78(1):1-5.
- Online journal article: Authors of the article (6 authors maximum et al). Title of the article. Abbreviation of the journal [Internet]. Year [date accessed]; Volume (number):pages. Available in: URL of the article Vitoria JC, Bilbao JR. New developments in celiac disease. An Pediatr [Internet]. 2013 [cited 14 Feb 2013];78(1):1-5. Available from: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1695403312003815.
- Newspaper article: Authors of the article, title of the article, name of the newspaper, date of publication [year month day], section and column.
Graphs, maps and photographs should be numbered with corresponding captions and indications of their placement in the article. Photographs, graphs and maps must be submitted separately from the text in electronic format with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi or 300 pixels.
g.- Authors' contributions: The individual contribution of each author in the preparation of the article must be indicated (Authorship criteria recognised by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), see: https://n9.cl/es/s/le6t ).
h.- Conflicts of interest: Each author must declare any relationship, condition, circumstance or position that may affect the objectivity of the manuscript, as indicated in the affidavit of responsibility and originality of the article and the conflict of interest form (see: Articles 29 and 30 of these guidelines).
i.- Funding: Indicate whether the research was self-financed or funded by an institution.
j.- Acknowledgements: Indicate the institutions and/or entities that participated in obtaining funds, in the collection of data or in the general supervision of the project for the development of the research.
11.- The Editorial Committee may establish exceptions for papers that, due to their originality or contribution, require a longer length; thus respecting the San Francisco Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA) subscribed to by this journal (https://sfdora.org/read/es/).
