General rules for thesis

The following rules intend to provide a general orientation about the requirements for designing, elaborating and writing of the research results of the thesis for obtaining the DO.

Thesis studies should be organised originally by researchers that want to obtain the DO under the perspective of the scientific method, following the methodologic indications of the Research Deparment of EOM, and compying with international regulations applicable for researches in humans and animals, given the case, according to the current laws.

Thesis studies will be written as articles or manuscripts and must adjust to the rules of authors of the European Journal Osteopathy & Related Clinical Research, according to the “Standard Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals” (Vancouver Style) that you may find in Annex 4 of the present document, established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, updated on the following website www.icmje.org (in English).

The final thesis document (report or printed and bounded manuscript) will contain mínimum 5 articles (which will be named “Chapters”). In this document, the different types of possible articles that thesis authors can choose in order to ellaborate their report or printed manuscript are exposed. Authors will have to consult the Research Department of EOM (asesoriacientificaeom@gmail.com), in order to find out which are the most recommeded types of articles in each case for the elaboration of their thesis.

1. – Type of articles (Manuscripsts) allowed to be part of the thesis

The type of articles (chapters) that will be part of the thesis can be: pilot studies, original research studies, technical reports, case series, cases and controls, systematic bibliographic reviews, metaanalysis and critical commentaries.

Structure of these manuscripts would be the following:

Pilot Studies, Original Articles and articles from Cases and Controls will have a maximum length of 3,000 words, with maximum five illustrations (figures, tables or graphics) and will present the following structure:

  • Title
  • Authors (affiliation and degree, linked with a superscript)
  • Abstract with the following structure:
    • Introduction
    • Objectives
    • Material and methods
    • Results
    • Conclusions
    • Keywords
  • Introduction
  • Material and methods
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Conflict of interests
  • References

Systematic bibliographic reviews and Metaanalysis must have a maximum length of 3,000 words, with maximum three ilustrations (figures, tables or graphics) and will present the following structure:

  • Title
  • Authors (affiliation and degree, linked with a superscript)
  • Abstract with the following structure:
    • Introduction
    • Objectives
    • Material and methods
    • Results
    • Conclusions
    • Keywords
  • Introduction
  • Material and methods
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • Conclusions
  • Acknowledgments
  • Conflict of interest
  • References

Clinical cases must have a maximum length of 2,000 words, with maximum three ilustrations (figures, tables or graphics) and will present the following structure:

  • Title
  • Authors (affiliation and degree, linked with a superscript)
  • Abstract with the following structure:
    • Introduction
    • Objectives
    • Discussion
    • Conclusions
    • Keywords
  • Introduction
  • Objectives
  • Discussion
  • Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Conflict of interest
  • References

Case series will have a maximum length of 2,500 words, with maximum three ilustrations (figures, tables or graphics) and will present the following structure:

  • Title
  • Authors (affiliation and degree, linked with a superscript)
  • Resumen Estructurado de la siguiente forma:
    • Introduction
    • Objectives
    • Material and methods
    • Results
    • Conclusions
    • Keywords
  • Introduction
  • Material and methods
  • Results
  • Discussion
  • Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Conflict of interest
  • References

Technical reports wil have a maximum length of 2,000 words, with maximum two ilustrations (figures, tables or graphics) and will have the following structure:

  • Title
  • Authors (affiliation and degree, linked with a superscript)
  • Unstructured Abstract:
    • Keywords
  • Introduction
  • Objectives /Principles
  • Diagnostic examination
  • Benefits/Indications
  • Risks/Contraindications
  • Description of the Procedure
  • Precautions
  • Conclusions
  • Acknowledgements
  • Conflict of interest
  • References

Critical Commentaries should be a maximum of 1,500 words, with a maximum of two illustrations (figures, tables, or graphics) and they should have the following structure:

  • Title
  • Authors (affiliation and degree, linked with a superscript)
  • Abstract structured as follows:
    • Objectives
    • Material and methods
    • Results
    • Conclusions
    • Keywords
  • Review
  • Acknowledgements
  • Conflict of Interest
  • References

The autor(s) must make sure that the entire bibliography is consistent with the Vancouver Style, described in Annex 4 of this document. In exceptional cases, the Research Department of EOM may assess the acceptance of manuscripts of greater length, and include modifications other than those described above, for justified reasons.

2. – General structure of the articles (Chapters) of the thesis

We could consider that the thesis structure in articles would be a document or a book, formed by those articles called chapters. However, information of these chapters is sctructured exactly the same as articles, with the difference that in the title page there is additional information to the first page of the article. For this reason, we will detail the information that must be contained in each chapter of the thesis, refering to the information that must contain each article.

Title page

The cover must contain the following information:

  1. Article´s title. Brief titles are easier to read than large and complex ones. However, if titles are too short, they may not provide important information, such as the study design (which is especially important in order to indentify the randomized controlled trials). Authors should include in their title all information for the electronic retrieval of the item to be both sensitive and specific.
  2. Names of the authors and their institutional affiliations.
  3. Name of the department(s) and institutions to which work must be attached.
  4. Disclaimers, if any.
  5. Corresponding author. The name, address, telephone and fax, and e-mail address of the author responsible for correspondence about the manuscript (this author may or may not be the one who guarantees the integrity of the study as a whole). The corresponding author should clearly indicate a contact e-mail address.
  6. Source(s) of financial assistance as grants, equipment, drugs or all these options.
  7.  A page heading or short title of the article which normally must not exceed 40 characteres (including spaces). These headings are published and used at the editorial office for filing and locating manuscripts.
  8. Words counting. The fact of counting the text´s words (excluding Abstract, Acknowledgments, Figure Legends and References) allows the editors and reviewers to decide if the information contained in the article justifies the length dedicated in the manuscript or if the presented manuscript is appropriate according to the journal´s word limit. For the same reason, it is useful to also count the words from the Abstract.
  9. Number of figures and tables. It is difficult for the editorial board and for the reviewers to determine whether figures and tables that should be attached to the manuscript are really included, unless it is specified in the cover the number of figures and tables belonging to the manuscript.

Article´s title page must not be part of the chapter, that is to say, when writing the thesis in the printed form (chapters instead of articles) names of the authors of each chapter must not be repeated (thesis author and thesis director), since this information will appear once included on the cover of the thesis (first page of the thesis and binding).Therefore, on the first page of each chapter, the chapter´s title will appear (same title of the article) and its abstract, being totally unneccesary the rest of the information that should appear on the article´s title page (institutions, affiliations, word counting, etc).

Abstract and keywords

The Abstract must provide the context and the study´s antedecents and must fix its objectives, basic procedure (selecction of subjects or laboratory animals that have participated in the study, monitoring and analitical methods) the main results (including, if possible, the magnitude of the effects and its statistical meaning) and the main conclusions. The Abstract should emphasize new important aspects or observations that arise from the study.

Due to the fact that abstracts are the only essential part of the article, indexed in many electronic databases, authors must be very careful that their abstracts reflect precisely the content of the article.

Original Articles, Bibliographic and Systematic Reviews and Metanalysis, Case Series studies and Critical Commentaries must include a structured abstract. All articles must include Keywords (between 3 and 10 keywords).

The author must ensure that the keywords in Spanish are included in the Health Sciences Descriptors (DeCS), and that their correspondences in English are contained in the Medical Subject Heading (MeSH) list. Therefore, we recommend that you visit these websites to perform these actions.

Introduction

The introduction should state the context or background of the study (e.g., the nature of the problem and its importance) and state the specific purpose or research objective (or the hypothesis being tested in the study). A research objective is often more clearly focused when posed as a question. Both primary and secondary objectives should be clear. You should include only strictly pertinent references, and not add data or conclusions apart from the work being presented.

Hypothesis and research objectives 

Author must mention in a paragraph for this purpose the objectives of the study, being able to divide them by importance as general objectives and specific objectives, or primary/secondary, etc. Moreover, when applicable, it should contain the study´s hypothesis (except for some observational studies, neither analytical nor experimental).

Material and methods

This section should include information on the materials used during the study and on the methods followed, including data related to sample size calculation, with the selection and description of participants, procedures for assessment and intervention, and statistical analyses. However, all information obtained during the study process should go into the “Results” section.

  • Selection and description of the participants

You should clearly describe the selection of the subjects who have been observed or who have received the experimental treatment (patients or laboratory animals, including controls), specifying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, providing data related to the sample size calculation, and describing the source population of the study subjects. Since it is not always clear how important variables such as age and sex are for the purpose of the research, authors should explain their use when they are included in the study. For example, authors should explain why they only included individuals of certain ages or why they excluded women or men, if such were the case. The main objective should be to articulate how and why the study was conducted in a particular way. When authors use variables such as ethnicity or race, they should define in what manner they measured those variables and also, justify their revelance.

  • Examination and intervention procedures

Identify the used methods and devices (provide brand, model, and manufacturing country, in parentheses), and procedures, with enough details to allow others to reproduce the results. You must give the references for usual methods, including statistical methods (see below); you should provide references and brief descriptions for methods that have been published, but are little known; and you should describe new or substantially modified methods, give reasons why they were used, and evaluate their limitations. You should identify precisely all drugs and chemicals used, including generic names, doses and routes of administration, etc. Authors submitting review manuscripts should include a section describing the methods used for locating, selecting, extracting, and synthesizing bibliographic data. These methods should also be summarized in the Abstract.

  • Statistical analysis

You should describe the statistical methods with enough detail to enable a knowledgeable reader with access to the original data to verify your results. When possible, you should quantify findings and present them with appropriate indicators of measurement error or uncertainty (such as confidence intervals). You should avoid relying solely on statistical hypothesis testing, such as the use of p-values, which do not give information on the magnitude of the effect. You should also define statistical terms, abbreviations and most symbols. You should specify the statistical software used.

Results

You should present the results in logical sequence in the text, tables, and figures, noting firstly the most important findings. We suggest using the following structure: 1) Descriptive Statistics; 2) Normality tests; 3) Inferential Statistics: Intragroupal Analysis; 4) Inferential Statistics: Intergroupal Analysis; 5) Correlations/ Magnitude of the effect/ Clinical significance… You should not repeat in the text data that is provided in tables or figures, but instead you should emphasize or summarize the important observations. You should use graphics as an alternative to tables that have many entries and you should not duplicate data in graphs and tables. You should avoid throughout the manuscript non-technical uses of statistical terms, e.g., “random” (which implies a randomizing process), “normal”, “significant”, “correlations” and “sample.” These terms should be used exclusively with their statistical meaning. When appropriate, you should include data analyses according to age and sex.

Discussion

You should highlight the most innovative and important aspects of the study and the conclusions which are deduced from them. You should not repeat in detail data or other material appearing in the “Introduction” or the “Results” sections. For experimental studies, it is useful to begin the discussion by summarizing briefly the main results, and then explore possible mechanisms or explanations for these findings, compare and contrast the results with other relevant studies, describe the limitations of the study, and discuss the implications of the results for future research and clinical practice.

You should avoid statements or allusions to aspects of research that have not been completed. It is possible to establish new hypotheses when warranted, but clearly describing them as such.

Conclusions

In this section, author must clearly and concisely expose the conclusions of the study. You must link the conclusions and objectives of the study, avoiding categorical statements and pointing out conclusions that are not properly backed up by the research data. Conclusions must represent statements concerning the objectives of the study, thus they must be strictly adjusted to the mentioned objectives. Opinions, suggestions or recommendations of the researcher will not be admitted as conclusions of the study, since those opinions must be part of the “Discussion”.

Reference- General considerations about the references

Whenever possible, you should provide the reader direct references to original sources of research. We do not recommend citing abstracts as references. References to articles already accepted, but not yet published should be cited with the specification “in press” or “forthcoming”, and the authors should obtain written permission to cite such papers, as well as confirmation that they have been accepted for publication. Information from manuscripts that have been submitted but not accepted should be cited in the text as “unpublished observations” with written permission from the source.

You should avoid citing a personal communication unless you provide essential information, not available in a public source. In scientific articles, authors should obtain written permission and confirmation of accuracy from the source of a personal communication.

The authors are responsible for checking that none of their references corresponds to retracted articles, except in case of referring to the retraction. For articles published in journals indexed in MEDLINE, the ICMJE considers PubMed the authoritative source for information about retractions. Authors can identify retracted articles in MEDLINE using the search term retracted publication [pt], where “pt” in square brackets means “publication type” in PubMed.

Style and format of a reference

The style of the Standardization Requirements is based largely on an ANSI standard style, adapted by the National Library of Medicine (NLM) for its databases (4). For examples of the format of references, authors should consult the website: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html (Annex 4).

References should be numbered consecutively in the order listed first in the text. You should identify references in text, tables, and legends by numbers in parentheses. References cited only in tables or figure legends should be numbered according to the sequence established by the first identification of the text of a particular table or figure. The titles of journals should be abbreviated in the style of Index Medicus. See the List of Journals indexed for MEDLINE, published annually as a separate publication by the National Library of Medicine. This list is also available on the website of that library (http://www.nlm.nih.gov).

Statement of conflict of interest

This information must be included in the manuscript in order to avoid ignoring information about a possible conflict of interest between authors. Therefore, it must also be included on a separate page, after the cover.
Authors must complete the Statement of Conflict of Interest in accordance with the rules of the ICMJE (http://www.icmje.org/), which is available on our website www.europeanjournalosteopathy.com or http://www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf, and must be sent with your submission.

Autorship and contributions: Authors

It is generally agreed that an “author” is someone who has made substantive intellectual contributions to a published study, and biomedical authorship has always had important academic, social, and economic implications (1). In the past, readers were rarely informed about the degree of contribution to the study of the authors appearing in it, or of the collaborators recognized in the “Acknowledgements” section (2).

The ICMJE recommends the following criteria for authorship: acknowledgement of authorship should be based on (1) substantial contributions to the idea and study design or data collection, or data analysis and interpretation, (2) drafting the article or revising it critically for substantial intellectual content, and (3) final approval of the version to be published. Authors should meet all three conditions – 1, 2 and 3.

When the group that carried out the work is numerous and comes from various institutions, individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript should be identified (3). These individuals must meet all the criteria for authorship defined above, and will have to complete and submit the forms for authors and the recognition of conflict of interest. When a manuscript written by a group is presented, the corresponding author should clearly indicate the priority of the authors, clearly identifying all individual authors as well as the group name. The National Library of Medicine includes in its indexes the group name and the name of the people whom are identified as direct responsibles for the manuscript.

The search for funding, data collection or general supervision of the research group alone does not justify authorship.

All persons named as authors should meet the criteria for authorship, and all the people who meet it should appear in the list of authors.

The participation of different authors in the work should be enough for them to publicly accept the responsibility for their contribution.

The order of authors in the publication should be a joint decision of the co-authors. Authors should know the reason for the order in which their names appear.

Collaborators in the acknowledgements section

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the “Acknowledgements” section. Examples to be included in the Acknowledgements: people who collaborate with only technical assistance, collaboration in the drafting of the manuscript, directions of departments whose participation is general, etc. Authors should specify if they have benefited from collaboration in drafting the manuscript, and they must identify the entity that has paid for these collaborations. The financial and material aid should also appear in the Acknowledgements.

The groups of people, who have contributed materially to the article, but whose contribution does not justify an authorship, should appear under a heading such as “clinical investigators” or “participating investigators”. Their function or contribution should be described as “scientific adviser”, “has made a critical review of the study proposal,” “collected data”, or “provided and cared after the study patients”. Because readers may infer that all these people have given their approval to the data and conclusions, they must give their permission, in writing, to appear in the Acknowledgements.

General rules for sending articles to the European Journal Osteopathy & Related Clinical Research

Manuscripts should be submitted in Spanish and English, separately (in two separate files and full text), but, exceptionally, manuscripts submitted in one language (English or Spanish) may be allowed. Manuscripts should be written in a clear and concise manner. The text will be presented on A4 size pages (297 × 210 mm) and double-spaced including references and explanations (legends and table footnotes) of figures, graphs and tables. Words in different languages from the text, and species and genera names should be in italics. All the pages of the manuscript must be properly identified and numbered. The margins are 3 cm each (left, right, top and bottom). In addition, the lines of text shall be numbered.

The first page shall contain the manuscript´s title, authors and correspondence information of the corresponding author (postal address, e-mail address, phone and fax). The title of the article must be specific and simple. If the manuscript is drafted and sent exclusively in Spanish (not including its full translation into English), the English translation of the title, abstract, and keywords must be included. The names of all authors must be listed by surname and name, with the authors separated by commas. Next to the name of each author, you must include one or more superscripts to specify their affiliation(s) (public or private institutions), academic degree –osteopaths (DO), certified osteopaths (CO), doctorate holders (PhD), physiotherapists (PT)– departments, universities, etc. At the foot of the title page, you must indicate the word counting of the manuscript, which excludes Title Page, Abstract, Acknowledgements, References, Figures, Tables, and Graphics (i.e., including only the article’s content, from the Introduction to the Conclusions or its equivalent, both sections inclusive).

The article should be prepared in Word (Office 2007 or 2010; doc/docx), in a single column and using font Times New Roman, size 12. The illustrations, photographs or drawings will be collected under the name of “Figure”, with their corresponding number and citation in the text. Figures, tables and graphics will be sent by e-mail, in separate files (see the “Figures” section below). The authors may find it helpful in the preparation of their manuscripts to follow the template that we offer. The use of this template is recommended because it contains instructions that will guide the article’s preparation, adapting it to the format of this journal. You can download the template here:

Download the template for writing your manuscript:

  • Original article
  • Technical report
  • Case report
  • Case series
  • Reviews
  • Critical commentary
  • Letter to the editor

 Policy of the journal

Author´s curricula

All authors of articles submitted should have sufficient knowledge of the material presented for publication and must be able to answer for the complete contents of the work. Authors must certify their participation in the study, attest to its validity, approve the final version of the article, and, if necessary, they should be able to provide further information about the general aspects of the study at the request of the Editorial Committee, which will require the signature of all the authors, and the submission of their authorization. Additionally, their curriculum may be required. The journal respects the international ethical standards contained in the Declaration of Helsinki and all those pertaining to experiments on animals and humans, which are applied in accordance with the requirements of the informed consent. Research projects must be reviewed and approved by the corresponding Ethics Committee for Human or Animal Experimentation, in each case. Manuscripts that report the results of experimental research with human subjects must include a statement that consent was obtained after explaining the process correctly and completely, and that all problems were resolved.

For original articles (randomized clinical trials, experimental studies, cohort studies, case-control studies, diagnostic test validation studies, and prospective/retrospective studies), case series and clinical guidelines, informed consent for the publication of an article in a printed and electronic form must be obtained from the patients. This consent must be obtained in writing, and it must be signed by the subject or legal guardian at the time of receipt.

Patient´s anonymity

The ethical and legal considerations, both national and international, in the case of publications of research findings in humans, require careful and special attention to protect the anonymity of the patient. Therefore, it is the responsibility of the authors to maintain and protect databases or files of the research subjects as set out under their respective current legislation to protect the subjects’ identities. You should avoid identification by name, surname, initials, case numbers, or dates.

Photographs or artistic likenesses of subjects are publishable only with the written consent of the person or legal guardian, and the manuscript must be accompanied by a signed agreement, indicating any special conditions (in particular, eyes must always be covered by a black bar, etc.).

Conflict of interest

Conflict of interest exists when authors has advantages or benefits, financial or personal, which may influence their actions or omissions in the study or the manuscript, or the authors’ decisions. You must notify, in writing, any conflicts of interest.

In case there are difficulties, the authors should be able to respond to any questions put to them by the Editorial Committee regarding conflicts of interest. The journal reserves the right to decide whether to publish the manuscript in the case of any possible suspicion concerning conflicts of interest. Authors must complete the Statement of Conflict of Interest, according to the norms of the ICMJE (http://www.icmje.org/), which is available on our website www.europeanjournalosteopathy.com, and must be sent in with your submission.

Funding sources

The project’s sources of financial support, such as grants, subsidies, or other, must be clearly indicated on the “Template of Application to the Editor”. The role of institutions and funding organizations, if any, in the study, must be described in the “Material and methods” section of the manuscript.

Authorizations

It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to get all the permits for the illustrations, references, figures, etc. that appear in the manuscript, and which will be required for the publication of the article. Illustrations or content from other publications (printed or electronic) must be submitted with the written permission of the publisher of the publication concerned, and this permission should be stated in the manuscript.

Redundant or duplicated publication

The journal requires a written authorization to publish any article that has been previously published in another journal. If a duplicate publication, without permission, were to be detected at the stage of review and pre-publication, the article would be automatically rejected, even if a prior favourable report of acceptance or uncorrected proof had been sent to the authors. If duplicate publication without prior authorization were to be confirmed after publication, the appropriate institutions will be notified and any redress demanded regarding the copyright will be the responsibility of the author(s) of the article.

Breach of rules by authors

Authors should meet these publication standards. Authors who do not accept these rules will not have their submission considered for publication, and their manuscript will be rejected.

Editorial Process

Pre-review of the manuscript by the editorial board

The Editorial Board will conduct a pre-review process of the manuscript to check its relevance, since only appropriate articles that have been written according to the rules of publication of the journal, correctly formatted, with a level of basic quality, and appropriate to the objectives of the journal will start on the process of review. Therefore, the reasons for immediate rejection may include:

a) The article does not comply with the requirements as stated in the “Instructions for Authors”.
b) The work is of poor quality.
c) The issue addressed is not relevant to the objectives of the journal.

Review process 

The review process of the manuscripts will be undertaken as peer-review. All manuscripts will be subjected to blind critical review (without identifying the author or institution) of at least two members of the Review Committee (three reviewers in appropriate cases), composed of independent professionals and scientists of nationally and internationally recognized expertise in the field, to analyze the originality, validity, importance of content, justification of the conclusions, and the need for possible improvements. Manuscripts are considered privileged communications, and shall not be retained or duplicated during the review process. The reviewers’ comments are attached to the manuscript if it is rejected or if they make recommendations for improvements. All reviewers are anonymous.

Reviewers

Reviewers must register with this journal, accessing it through the website www.europeanjournalosteopathy.com in the “Registration” section. Manuscripts shall go through an anonymous review process, pursuant to the “Instructions for Authors”. In particular, the reviewers must consider compliance with these standards, and provide an evaluation of the manuscript that the Editorial Board submits, in an appropriate time and form, including the comments they deem appropriate. The Editorial Board will send the reviewer an official form for the anonymous review process, with the rest of the documentation for each item that the peer review process requires. This peer review process is characterized by having at least two independent reviewers who do not know who are the authors of the manuscript they are reviewing. Since the reviewers may provide differing points of view after the completion of the review, the Editorial Board may use the additional opinion of other reviewers for the manuscript in the form of a tie-breaker.

Rapid review

Rapid review for publication will be done only in the case of extremely high quality manuscripts, or with results that may immediately and urgently affect the osteopathic practice. The highest priority will be given to epidemiological studies, meta-analyses, and clinical trials. If a manuscript is accepted for rapid review, it shall undergo a speeded-up review process.

Acceptance for publication

The review process does not imply acceptance for publication.
Manuscripts submitted may receive any one of these 5 “editor´s responses”:

  1. “Incomplete or not ready for review”: the authors must provide additional documentation or amendments before the review process.
  2. “Important Review”: the authors should make some major modifications –structural or content– to the manuscript that the independent reviewers have recommended to the Editorial Board.
  3. “Minor Review”: the authors should make the necessary minor modifications –formal, grammatical, or expressions– to the manuscript that the independent reviewers have recommended to the Editorial Board.
  4. “Accepted”: after the review process, the manuscript is accepted for publication.
  5. “Rejected”: after the review process, the manuscript is rejected for publication.

Apart from the rejection due to uncorrectable errors, a well-constructed manuscript may also be rejected because it adds little new information to the work that has already been published in literature, or because it addresses a new issue that deserves further study in depth. In these cases, the editor will generally provide recommendations to the author(s) for submission to another journal.

Subsequent to acceptance

All manuscripts accepted for publication will be subject to a correction and review process to ensure clarity, conciseness, and correct usage and compliance with a correct style. Almost all articles that are accepted require some editorial review before publication. Authors will have the opportunity to accept the reviews made during the review of the digital proofs. The editors work with authors to reach agreement when the authors do not find the reviews acceptable, but the journal reserves the right of not publishing a manuscript if discussion with the author cannot reach a solution that is satisfactory for the editors.

Tables

Tables can present information concisely and efficiently. They can also provide information with the desired degree of detail and accuracy. Including data in tables and not in the text reduces the length of the article. You should produce double-spaced tables on a separate page. You should number the tables consecutively in the order of their first citing in the text, and give them a brief title. You should not use internal horizontal or vertical lines. Each column should be headed by a short or abbreviated heading. Authors should place the explanations in footnotes to the table, not in the title. You should explain in footnotes to the table all non-standard abbreviations. For footnotes to the table, we recommend using the following symbols in this sequence: * † ‡ § || ¶ ** †† ‡‡.

Authors should make sure that each table has been cited in the text. Moreover, the tables will have to identify statistical measures of variability, such as standard deviations and standard errors of the mean. If you use data from another source, whether published or unpublished, you should obtain permission and make a full statement of the sources.

Figures

Figures should be designed, photographed, and presented as professional quality digital photos. Figures, tables, or graphics will be sent in a JPEG or TIFF format with a minimum resolution of 300 dpi. Authors should review the images of these files on a computer screen before submitting them, in order to make sure they meet their own quality standards. You must send clear and bright pictures, black and white or colour, usually 127 × 173 mm. The letters, numbers, and symbols in the figures should be clear and completely uniform, and also large enough so that when reduced for publication, they remain legible.

Figures should be as clear as possible (self-explanatory). The figure legends will consist of titles and any necessary explanations, but these explanations should not be included within the figures. Symbols, arrows or letters used in the microphotographies should clearly contrast with the background. If using photographs of people, the subjects must not be identifiable (black bar over the eyes), and such photographs must be accompanied by the appropriate written authorization to use them. Whenever possible, you must get written permission to be able to publish.
Figures should be numbered consecutively in the order of their first appearance in the text. If using a previously published figure, you should mention the original source and submit the written permission from the copyright owner to reproduce the material. This permission is required, regardless of author or publisher, except for documents in the public domain.

Legends of figures

Throughout the article, you must indicate the place where you want each figure to appear (including the corresponding figure legend in the text). At the end of the article, you must specify these legends on a new page in a “Figure Legends” section, typed double-spaced on a separate page, and listed with the same numbers as the corresponding figures. When you use symbols, arrows, numbers, or letters to identify parts of figures, they should be identified and explained clearly in the corresponding legend.

Units of measurement

You should use the International System of Units (SI). They should be expressed in metric measures of length, height, mass (or “weight”) and volume (metre, kilogram, litre) or their corresponding multiples or sub-multiples. Temperatures are to be expressed in degrees Celsius. Blood pressure should be measured in millimetres of mercury (mmHg).

Abbreviations and symbols

Authors should use only standard abbreviations. You should avoid using abbreviations in the title. The first time you use an abbreviation, it should be preceded by its full term (not shortened), unless it is a unit of measurement.
For standard abbreviations, see:

  1. Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals (Ann Intern Med 1997; 126:36-47).
  2.  American Medical Association Manual of Style. 9th ed. Baltimore (United States): Williams & Wilkins, 1997.
  3. Scientific Style and Format, the CBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers. 6th ed. Cambridge (United Kingdom): University of Cambridge Press, 1994.

Recommended file size

We recommend you to submit files of less than 2MB in size.

Manuscript format

Manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with the requirements of international Vancouver Style “Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals “(www.icmje.org ) (Annex 4). We recommend that you do not break any word at the end of any line.

Terminology

Standard spelling and terminology should be used whenever possible. You should not create new terms or acronyms for entities that already exist.

Reproductions

Copyright to Eur J Ost Clin Rel Res and to manuscripts published in the online magazine – Eur J Ost Clin Rel Res – are owned by the journal, so it will be necessary to cite your sources in any partial or full reproduction. The entire contents of the journal are protected by copyright and no part may be reproduced without the prior permission of the journal. In particular, this policy applies to the use of any picture or text to create a new work. Unless otherwise stated, all contents of the online Journal – Eur J Ost Clin Rel Res – are distributed under a “Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial 3.0 Spain” (CC BY-NC) distribution licence. You can view the full text of the licence here. This circumstance has to be expressly stated in this manner when necessary.

Sending the manuscript to the journal

Template of application to the editors (See Annex 1)
Authorization template: Publications images of people (See Annex 2)
Final checklist (See Annex 3)
Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals: Examples of reference (Vancouver Style) (See Annex 4)

Authors must register on the website www.europeanjournalosteopathy.com with the role of authors, in the “Registration” section of the site. Manuscripts should be submitted following the present instructions. Manuscripts must be accompanied by a letter to the editor (“TEMPLATE OF APPLICATION TO THE EDITOR”; see Annex 1), and a letter of authorization from the photographed subjects (“AUTHORIZATION TEMPLATE: PUBLICATION IMAGES OF PEOPLE”; see Annex 2) that must include the following information:

  • A clear statement that the manuscript is original and has not been submitted to any other Journal for publication, plus a list of previous articles that might be considered redundant publication of the same work or similar work.
  • A statement of financial relationships or other circumstances which could create a conflict of interest, in case this information is not included in the manuscript itself or in the authors´ form.
  • A statement which affirms that the manuscript has been read and approved by all authors, who meet all the requirements for authorship as defined in this document, and that the authors believe that the manuscript presents unprecedented and honest information. Additionally, the authors must state their transfer of rights of publication and publishers to the European Journal of Osteopathy & Clinical Related Research.
  • A letter of authorization for the publication of the image of people, which must be signed by the stakeholders in the publication of the article, ceding the publishing rights to the European Journal of Osteopathy & Clinical Related Research. All images must respect the confidentiality of subjects, concealing the eyes with superimposed black bars (see Annex 2).
  • The name, address, and telephone number of the corresponding author, who is responsible for communicating with the other authors to discuss the reviews and final approval of proofs, if this information is not included in the manuscript itself.
  • Before sending the manuscript for submission, authors must verify the “Final Checklist” document (see Annex 3), to make sure that all recommendations were taken into account.

References cited in this document

  1. Davidoff F for the CSE Task Force on Authorship. Who’s the Author? Problems with Biomedical Authorship, and Some Possible Solutions. Science Editor. July-August 2000;23(4): 111-119.
  2. Yank V, Rennie D. Disclosure of researcher contributions: a study of original research articles en The Lancet. Ann Intern Med. 1999 Abr 20; 130 (8):661-70.
  3.  Flanagin A, Fontanarosa PB, DeAngelis CD. Authorship for research groups. JAMA. 2002; 288:3166-68.
  4. Patrias K. National Library of Medicine recommended formats for bibliographic citation. Bethesda (MD): The Library; 1991.

Editorial Committee
European Journal Osteopathy & Related Clinical Research

Annex 1

Template of application to the editor 

Dear Editor,
The present document respresents our request for publishing our manuscript, entitled
_______________________________________________________________________________
which has been performed as original redaction by the following authors:

  • (Full name of author 1) __ Example: John Paul Dvorak Smith______________________________

(Abbreviated publication name of author 1) ___ Example: Dvorak-Smith, JP___________________

  • (Full name of author 2) _____________________________________________________________

(Abbreviated publication name of author 2) _____________________________________________

  • (Full name of author 3) _____________________________________________________________

(Abbreviated publication name of author 3) _____________________________________________

 

This manuscript has not been previously published in any printed or digital form. The authors specifically declare their participation in the study and give their permission for the dissemination of its contents and disclosure of their names, as well as all the people and institutions that appear in the acknowledgements. Also, the authors relinquish specifically all rights of publication and publishers to the European Journal of Osteopathy & Related Clinical Research for dissemination. The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest or business associated with this manuscript, and have been funded by the following entities or institutions ———————– ——————- (if applicable). Otherwise, the authors will submit the Declaration of Conflict of Interest.

The authors exempt the European Journal of Osteopathy & Related Clinical Research from any liability for the opinions or comments expressed in the manuscript, which they expressly recognize as their own.
In (place) _________________on_____ (day)_____________ (month)__________ (year).

Signed:

Author 1 ___________________ Author 2 ___________________ Author 3 __________________

Annex 2

Template of authorization for publishing images of individuals

Hereby, I Mr. / Mrs. (name) ________________________________________________________
with passport or identity card number _________________________
AUTHORIZE Mr. / Mrs. (Name of researcher) ___________________________________________________________________
To release my appearance in the European Journal Osteopathy & Related Clinical Research for research purposes only.
In (place) ________________on______ (day) _____________ (month) _________ (year)
Signed ___________________________________

Annex3

Final checklist

Before sending in your manuscript, we encourage you to perform a routine check to make sure that the submission process is completed successfully.

  1. Check the completion of the “TEMPLATE OF APPLICATION TO THE EDITOR” (Annex 1) and the “TEMPLATE OF AUTHORIZATION FOR PUBLISHING IMAGES OF INDIVIDUALS” (Annex 2). These documents can be sent in Spanish or English.
  2. Write the TITLE PAGE according to the “INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS” document. Make sure that it includes the translation into English and Spanish.
  3. Check that all pages of the manuscript are numbered and that there is line numbering on each page.
  4. Check the proper preparation of the Abstract of the manuscript, including Keywords.
  5. Make sure that you include the translation into English and Spanish of your article.
  6. Check that the manuscript does not contain headers or footnotes that can identify the authors of the manuscript (so that the reviewers are unaware of the authorship, in order to successfully complete the peer-review process).
  7. Check that you expressly stipulate compliance with ethical standards for human and animal experimentation (if any) (Helsinki Statement). Be sure to complete the Declaration of Conflict of Interest, which you must send in with your submission, and which you may find on www.europeanjournalosteopathy.com or http://www.icmje.org/coi_disclosure.pdf.
  8. Check that the findings of your study are clearly expressed and are consistent with the stated objectives of the study.
  9. Check that the references included in the manuscript appear in the Reference list, and that they are numbered consecutively, starting with number 1, ending with the number corresponding to the last reference in your article.
  10. Check that there is no duplication in any of your citations or references.
  11. Check that all references follow the Vancouver Style (Annex 4).
  12. Check that you have included sections entitled “Figure Legends”, “Table Captions” and “Graphics Legends” at the end of the manuscript (after the References). Make sure you have cited in the text each figure, table, graphic, etc. You must not have any illustration that has not been referred to at some point in the text.
  13. Check the quality and format of the pictures you want to send, with the acceptable minimum quality being 300 dpi. You must also check that the illustrations are inserted correctly in the text. In addition, you must send all figures, graphics, illustrations, and tables in separate files, with image formats being JPEG or TIFF.
  14. Check the format of the text you want to send. We will not accept manuscripts in PDF format. The format will be DOC or DOCX, Microsoft Word (2007 or 2010).
  15. Check that your manuscript is organized in the appropriate order, including the TITLE PAGE, and that page is not included in the file containing the full text of the article, to prevent reviewers being able to identify its relationship or source. The last page should include “Figure (Tables and/or Graphics) Legends”. You must make sure that each section starts with a new page.
  16. Check that all files have an easily identifiable name, short in length. The file name should not include symbols. You must make sure your file has the correct extension “.doc” or “.docx” to prevent errors.
  17. Name the files of figures, tables, and graphs in the same way as they appear in the text, i.e, the file corresponding to “Figure 1” should be called “Figure1.tiff”.
  18. Before submission, you should check that you have all the files. You should have several different files, the first being the “TEMPLATE_OF_APPLICATION_TO_THE_EDITOR.doc”, the second is the file “TEMPLATE_OF_ _AUTHORIZATION_FOR_PUBLISHING_IMAGES_OF_INDIVIDUALS.doc” (if you use images of photographed individuals), the third would be the “TITLE_PAGE.doc”, the fourth would be the file “MANUSCRIPT.doc”, and if you have any figure or table files, “Figure1.tiff” and “Table1.tiff”, etc. You must include all files in the same submission for editorial revision of the manuscript, avoiding unnecessary errors and delays.

Annex 4

Standarization requirements for manuscripts submitted biomedical journals: Examples of reference (Vancouver Style)

International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)
National Library of Medicine U.S. (NLM)

Original version (English): http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html

Journal articles

1. Standard Article

You have to mention the first six authors, followed by “et al.” (Note: NLM lists all authors now)
Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002 Jul 25; 347(4):284-7.

If the journal maintains the continuous paging criterion for the entire volume (like many medical journals), optionally you can skip month and issue.

Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002;347:284-7.

If the article has a unique identifier in database, optionally you may add:

Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002 Jul 25;347(4):284-7. Cited in PubMed; PMID 12140307.

More than six authors:

Rose ME, Huerbin MB, Melick J, Marion DW, Palmer AM, Schiding JK, et al. Regulation of interstitial excitatory amino acid concentrations after cortical contusion injury. Brain Res. 2002;935(1-2):40-6.

2. Collective Author (Author is a team)

Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group. Hypertension, insulin, and proinsulin in participants with impaired glucose tolerance. Hypertension. 2002;40(5):679-86.

3. Shared Authorship between Individual Authors and a Team (This example does not follow the NISO standards)

Vallancien G, Emberton M, Harving N, van Moorselaar RJ; Alf-One Study Group. Sexual dysfunction in 1,274 European men suffering from lower urinary tract symptoms. J Urol. 2003;169(6):2257-61.

4. Author not mentioned

21st century heart solution may have a sting in the tail. BMJ. 2002;325(7357):184.

5. Article in a Different Language than English (Note: NLM translates titles into English between square brackets and mentions the original language in abbreviated form)

Ellingsen AE, Wilhelmsen I. Sykdomsangst blant medisin- og jusstudenter. Tidsskr Nor Laegeforen. 2002;122(8):785-7

6. Supplement of a Volume

Geraud G, Spierings EL, Keywood C. Tolerability and safety of frovatriptan with short- and long-term use for treatment of migraine and in comparison with sumatriptan. Headache. 2002;42 Suppl 2:S93-9.

7. Supplement of an Issue

Glauser TA. Integrating clinical trial data into clinical practice. Neurology. 2002;58(12 Suppl 7):S6-12.

 

8. Part of a Volume

Abend SM, Kulish N. The psychoanalytic method from an epistemological viewpoint. Int J Psychoanal. 2002;83(Pt 2):491-5.

9. Part of an Issue

Ahrar K, Madoff DC, Gupta S, Wallace MJ, Price RE, Wright KC. Development of a large animal model for lung tumors. J Vasc Interv Radiol. 2002;13(9 Pt 1):923-8.

10. Issue without Volume

Banit DM, Kaufer H, Hartford JM. Intraoperative frozen section analysis in revision total joint arthroplasty. Clin Orthop. 2002;(401):230-8.

11. Neither Volume nor Issue

Outreach: bringing HIV-positive individuals into care. HRSA Careaction. 2002 Jun:1-6.

12. Pages in Roman Numerals

Chadwick R, Schuklenk U. The politics of ethical consensus finding. Bioethics. 2002;16(2):iii-v.

13. Indicating the Type of Article when necessary

Tor M, Turker H. International approaches to the prescription of long-term oxygen therapy [letter]. Eur Respir J. 2002; 20(1):242.

Lofwall MR, Strain EC, Brooner RK, Kindbom KA, Bigelow GE. Characteristics of older methadone maintenance (MM) patients [abstract]. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2002;66 Suppl 1:S105.

14. Article containing a Withdrawal

Feifel D, Moutier CY, Perry W. Safety and tolerability of a rapidly escalating dose-loading regimen for risperidone. J Clin Psychiatry. 2002;63(2):169. Retraction of: Feifel D, Moutier CY, Perry W. J Clin Psychiatry. 2000;61(12):909-11.

15. Article Object of Withdrawal

Feifel D, Moutier CY, Perry W. Safety and tolerability of a rapidly escalating dose-loading regimen for risperidone. J Clin Psychiatry. 2000;61(12):909-11. Retraction in: Feifel D, Moutier CY, Perry W. J Clin Psychiatry. 2002;63(2):169.

16. Reedited Article with Reviews

Mansharamani M, Chilton BS. The reproductive importance of P-type ATPases. Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2002; 188(1-2):22-5. Corrected and republished from: Mol Cell Endocrinol. 2001; 183(1-2):123-6.

17. Article with Erratum Published

Malinowski JM, Bolesta S. Rosiglitazone in the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus: a critical review. Clin Ther. 2000; 22(10):1151-68; discussion 1149-50. Erratum in: Clin Ther 2001; 23(2):309.

18. Article first Electronic then Printed

Yu WM, Hawley TS, Hawley RG, Qu CK. Immortalization of yolk sac-derived precursor cells. Blood. 2002 Nov 15;100(10):3828-31. Epub 2002 Jul 5.

Books and other monographs

19. Individual Authors

Murray PR, Rosenthal KS, Kobayashi GS, Pfaller MA. Medical microbiology. 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 2002.

20. Editor(s), Compiler(s)

Gilstrap LC 3rd, Cunningham FG, VanDorsten JP, editors. Operative obstetrics. 2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002.

21. Author(s) and Editor(s)

Breedlove GK, Schorfheide AM. Adolescent pregnancy. 2nd ed. Wieczorek RR, editor. White Plains (NY): March of Dimes Education Services; 2001.

22. Organisation(s) as Author

Royal Adelaide Hospital; University of Adelaide, Department of Clinical Nursing. Compendium of nursing research and practice development, 1999-2000. Adelaide (Australia): Adelaide University; 2001.

23. Book Chapter

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.

24. Conference Proceedings

Harnden P, Joffe JK, Jones WG, editors. Germ cell tumours V. Proceedings of the 5th Germ Cell Tumour Conference; 2001 Sep 13-15; Leeds, UK. New York: Springer; 2002.

25. Article containing a Conference

Christensen S, Oppacher F. An analysis of Koza’s computational effort statistic for genetic programming. In: Foster JA, Lutton E, Miller J, Ryan C, Tettamanzi AG, editors. Genetic programming. EuroGP 2002: Proceedings of the 5th European Conference on Genetic Programming; 2002 Apr 3-5; Kinsdale, Ireland. Berlin: Springer; 2002. p. 182-91.

26. Scientific or Technical Report

Published by the financing/sponsoring entity:

Yen GG (Oklahoma State University, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Stillwater, OK). Health monitoring on vibration signatures. Final report. Arlington (VA): Air Force Office of Scientific Research (US), Air Force Research Laboratory; 2002 Feb. Report No.: AFRLSRBLTR020123. Contract No.: F496209810049.

Published by the organising institution:

Russell ML, Goth-Goldstein R, Apte MG, Fisk WJ. Method for measuring the size distribution of airborne Rhinovirus. Berkeley (CA): Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Environmental Energy Technologies Division; 2002 Jan. Report No.: LBNL49574. Contract No.: DEAC0376SF00098. Sponsored by the Department of Energy.

27. Thesis

Borkowski MM. Infant sleep and feeding: a telephone survey of Hispanic Americans [dissertation]. Mount Pleasant (MI): Central Michigan University; 2002.

28. Patent

Pagedas AC, inventor; Ancel Surgical R&D Inc., assignee. Flexible endoscopic grasping and cutting device and positioning tool assembly. United States patent US 20020103498. 2002 Aug 1.

Other type of publishings

29. Newspaper Article

Tynan T. Medical improvements lower homicide rate: study sees drop in assault rate. The Washington Post. 2002 Aug 12; Sect. A:2 (col. 4)

30. Audiovisual Material

Chason KW, Sallustio S. Hospital preparedness for bioterrorism [videocassette]. Secaucus (NJ): Network for Continuing Medical Education; 2002.

31. Legal Documents

Laws: Veterans Hearing Loss Compensation Act of 2002, Pub. L. No. 107-9, 115 Stat. 11 (May 24, 2001).
Not promulgated bill: Healthy Children Learn Act, S. 1012, 107th Cong., 1st Sess. (2001).

Federal Code Law: Cardiopulmonary Bypass Intracardiac Suction Control, 21 C.F.R. Sect. 870.4430 (2002).
Jurisprudence: Arsenic in Drinking Water: An Update on the Science, Benefits and Cost: Hearing Before the Subcomm. on Environment, Technology and Standards of the House Comm. on Science, 107th Cong., 1st Sess. (Oct. 4, 2001).

32. Map

Pratt B, Flick P, Vynne C, cartographers. Biodiversity hotspots [map]. Washington: Conservation International; 2000.

33. Dictionaries and similars

Dorland’s illustrated medical dictionary. 29th ed. Philadelphia: W.B. Saunders; 2000. Filamin; p. 675.

Non- published works

34. In press

(Note: NLM prefers the term “forthcoming” because not all articles will be printed.) Tian D, Araki H, Stahl E, Bergelson J, Kreitman M. Signature of balancing selection in Arabidopsis. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. In press 2002.

Electronic material

35. CD-ROM

Anderson SC, Poulsen KB. Anderson’s electronic atlas of hematology [CD-ROM]. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2002.

36. Journal Article on the Internet

Abood S. Quality improvement initiative in nursing homes: the ANA acts in an advisory role. Am J Nurs [serial on the Internet]. 2002 Jun [cited 2002 Aug 12];102(6):[about 3 p.]. Available from:
http://www.nursingworld.org/AJN/2002/june/Wawatch.htm

37. Monograph on the Internet

Foley KM, Gelband H, editors. Improving palliative care for cancer [monograph on the Internet]. Washington: National Academy Press; 2001 [cited 2002 Jul 9]. Available from: http://www.nap.edu/books/0309074029/html/.

38. Homepage of a Website

Cancer-Pain.org [homepage on the Internet]. New York: Association of Cancer Online Resources, Inc.; c2000-01 [updated 2002 May 16; cited 2002 Jul 9]. Available from: http://www.cancer-pain.org/.

39. Webpage of a Website

American Medical Association [homepage on the Internet]. Chicago: The Association; c1995-2002 [updated 2001 Aug 23; cited 2002 Aug 12]. AMA Office of Group Practice Liaison; [about 2 screens]. Available from: http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/1736.html

40. Databases on the Internet

Open database (updating):

Who’s Certified [database on the Internet]. Evanston (IL): The American Board of Medical Specialists. c2000 – [cited 2001 Mar 8]. Available from: http://www.abms.org/newsearch.asp

Closed database (without updatings):

Jablonski S. Online Multiple Congential Anomaly/Mental Retardation (MCA/MR) Syndromes [database on the Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US). c1999 [updated 2001 Nov 20; cited 2002 Aug 12].

Available from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/jablonski/syndrome_title.html

41. Part of a Database on the Internet

MeSH Browser [database on the Internet]. Bethesda (MD): National Library of Medicine (US); 2002 – [cited 2003 Jun 10]. Meta-analysis; unique ID: D015201; [about 3 p.]. Available from: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html Files updated weekly.