INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS
Supportive Palliative and Cancer Care is an open access journal which publishes practical, critical thought on supportive, palliative, complementary and integrative care.
Each manuscript includes:
Forename(s) and surnames of authors (see Authorship section below)
Author affiliations: department, institution, city, state, country
Abstract 300 words
3–6 keywords
Running header (shortened title)
Corresponding author: name, physical address, phone, fax, email
Reference list
In the layout of paper add lines
Double-spacing
3-cm margins
Page numbers
Clear concise language
American spelling
Ensure tables and figures are cited
The preferred electronic format for text is Microsoft Word
Manuscripts will be accepted in LaTeX as long as the native LaTeX and a PDF is also
supplied
Use International Systems of Units (SI) symbols and recognized abbreviations for units
of measurement
Write the characters of the apostrophe and quotation marks in italics
When present in the text, the indication “et Al.” both in the text and in the bibliography must be written in italics
Spell out acronyms in the first instance in the abstract and paper
Word counts are not specified. In general, shorter items range from 1000 to 3000
words and reviews from 3000 to 7,500
Generic drug names are used in text, tables, and figures
Suppliers of drugs, equipment, and other brand-name material are credited in
parentheses (company, name, city, state, country)
If molecular sequences are used, provide a statement that the data have been
deposited in a publicly accessible database, eg, GenBank, and indicate the database
accession number.
While the editors fully understand the extra challenges posed to authors whose native
language is not English, we must ask that all manuscripts be reviewed and edited by a native
speaker of English with expertise in that area prior to submission.
Authorship
Authorship credit should be based on:
1) Substantial contributions to conception and design, acquisition of data, or analysis and
interpretation of data;
2) Drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content;
3) Final approval of the version to be published; and
4) Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related
to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and
resolved.
Authors should meet conditions 1, 2, 3, and 4.
When a large, multicenter group has conducted the work, the group should identify the
individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript (3). These individuals should
fully meet the criteria for authorship/contributorship defined above, and editors will ask these
individuals to complete journal-specific author and conflict-of-interest disclosure forms. When
submitting a manuscript authored by a group, the corresponding author should clearly indicate
the preferred citation and identify all individual authors as well as the group name. Journals
generally list other members of the group in the Acknowledgments. The NLM indexes the
group name and the names of individuals the group has identified as being directly responsible
for the manuscript.
Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone
does not constitute authorship.
All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship, and all those who qualify
should be listed.
Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for
appropriate portions of the content.
Increasingly, authorship of multicenter trials is attributed to a group. All members of the group
who are named as authors should fully meet the above criteria for authorship/contributorship.
The group should jointly make decisions about contributors/authors before submitting the
manuscript for publication. The corresponding author/guarantor should be prepared to explain
the presence and order of these individuals. It is not the role of editors to make
authorship/contributorship decisions or to arbitrate conflicts related to authorship.
Related Authors
Where authors of a paper are related this should be disclosed at the time of submission. Please
provide details of the family relationship between such authors.
Figures and Tables
Submit as separate files and also as one combined file
Submit figures as JPG files
Number consecutively
Provide a descriptive heading/legend
Place abbreviations immediately below the table
Use superscript a, b, c… as identifiers
Supply Line Art 900 dpi, Combination (Line Art + Halftone) 900 dpi, Halftone 300 dpi
Graphics downloaded from Web pages are NOT acceptable
Submit multi-panel figures, ie with parts labeled a,b,c,d, as one file.
Supplementary Data
Any supplementary data should be kept to 6 typeset pages or 2,400 words.
Letter to the Editor
Manuscripts submitted as a Letter to the Editor:
Should relate to a paper previously published in a Ediscience Medical Press journal, or
address an issue of wider concern within the scope of the journal;
Have a word count of no more than 3,600 words;
May contain figures and tables (see specifications for these above);
Have references formatted in the Ediscience Press Journal.
Submission of Manuscript
All manuscripts should be submitted via our website.
By doing so you agree to the terms and conditions of submission
Keep a backup and hard copies of the material submitted.
Type of articles
Original papers
Clinical studies
Reviews
Meta analysis
Editorial
Letter to Editor
Policy Studies
Case report
Each article must include an abstract divided into:
background
methods
results
conclusions
Absract is not required for Case Report and Letter to Editor
Authorship and Confict of Interest
After confirming the acceptance of the manuscript , the author will have to sign and send back
the form for Authorship and Conflict of Interest.
Author Contributions
Each author must declare his contribution to the creation of the manuscript, signing and send back the form that includes:
Concept and design
Acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data
Drafting of the manuscript
Critical revision of the manuscript
Statistical analysis
Obtained funding
Administrative, technical, or material support
Supervision
Proofs
You will receive the typeset page proofs for approval
Check amendments made by the editor have not rendered the material inaccurate
Check you have answered all the editor’s queries
Ensure your corrections are minimal and absolutely necessary
Mark the adjustments clearly in the text and margins, and keep a copy of what you
send to the editor
Notify the editorial office of all corrections within 72 hours of your receipt of the
material
Ensure all authors sign and return the Author Approval and final page of Publication
Agreement
We also support the international standards for editors and authors that were
developed at the 2nd World Conference on Research Integrity in Singapore in 2010.
Reference Style
Please note that authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of their
references.
Text citations: Cite references sequentially in text, tables, and legends by superscript Arabic
numerals with no parentheses, eg, 1 or 3,4 or 10–15. Numbers should be placed after
punctuation marks, eg, .3,4 Do not use Microsoft Word’s footnote/endnotes function to build
the reference list as this can introduce errors during the typesetting process.
N.B. Bibliography: it is possible to use the following bibliography management programs - Endnote, Zotero, Mendeley.
Reference list: List items numerically in the order they are cited in the text, eg, 4. Kapur
NK, Musunuru K. Clinical efficiency and safety of statins in managing cardiovascular risk. Vasc
Health Risk Manag. 2008;4(2):341–353. Some commonly used sample references follow.
Journal articles
Standard journal article:
Kapur NK, Musunuru K. Clinical efficiency and safety of statins in managing cardiovascular risk.
Vasc Health Risk Manag. 2008;4(2):341–353.
Abbreviate names of journals according to the journals list in PubMed
(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=PubMed)
List all authors if six or less, otherwise list first three only, followed by "et al.":Brandén E,
Gnarpe J, Hillerdal G, et al. Detection of Chlamydia pneumoniae on cytospin preparations from
bronchiolar lavage in COPD patients and in lung tissue from advanced emphysema. Int J Chron
Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2007;2(4):643–650.
Group as author:
Diabetes Prevention Program Research Group. Hypertension, insulin, and proinsulin in
participants with impaired glucose tolerance. Hypertension. 2002;40(5):679–686.
Both personal authors and an organization as author:
Munakata M, Honma H, Akasi M; for J-STOPMetS Study Group. Sexual dysfunction in 1,274
European men suffering from lower urinary tract symptoms. Vasc Health Risk Manag.
2007;4(2):415–420.
Volume with no issue but a supplement:
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–S99.
Issue with supplement:
Glauser TA. Integrating clinical trial data into clinical practice. Neurology. 2002;58(12 Suppl
7):S6–S12
Volume with part:
Abend SM, Kulish N. The psychoanalytic method from an epistemological viewpoint. IntJ
Psychoanal. 2002;83(Pt 2):491–495.
Issue with part:
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):923–928.
Issue with no volume:
Banit DM, Kaufer H, Hartford JM. Intraoperative frozen section analysis in revision total joint
arthroplasty. Clin Orthop. 2002;(401):230–238.
No volume or issue:
Outreach: bringing HIV-positive individuals into care. HRSA Careaction. 2002 Jun:1–6.
Type of article indicated as needed:
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.
Article published electronically ahead of the print:
Yu WM, Hawley TS, Hawley RG, Qu CK. Immortalization of yolk sac-derived precursor cells.
Blood. 2002 Nov 15;100(10):3828–3831. Epub 2002 Jul 5.
Foreign language:
Virchow R. Aetiologie der neoplastischen Geschwulst/Pathogenie der neoplastischen
Geschwulste [Etiology and pathology of cancerous tumors]. Die Krankhaften Geschwulste.
Berlin: Verlag von August Hirschwald; 1865:57–101. German.
Books and other monographs
Personal author(s):
Murray PR, Rosenthal KS, Kobayashi GS, Pfaller MA. Medical Microbiology. 4th ed. St Louis:
Mosby; 2002.
Editor(s), compiler(s) as author:
Gilstrap LC 3rd, Cunningham FG, VanDorsten JP, eds. Operative Obstetrics. 2nd ed. New York:
McGraw-Hill; 2002.
Author(s) and editor(s):
Breedlove GK, Schorfheide AM. Adolescent Pregnancy. 2nd ed. Wieczorek RR, ed. White Plains
(NY): March of Dimes Education Services; 2001.
Chapter in a book:
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;
2002:93–113.
Conference proceedings (published):
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.
Conference proceedings (unpublished):
Eisenberg J. Market forces and physician workforce reform: why they may not work. Poster
presented at: Annual Meeting of the Association of American Medical Colleges; October 28;
1995; Washington, DC.
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 published material
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).
Prescribing information:
Ampyra® (dalfampridine) extended release tablets [prescribing information]. New York:
Acorda Therapeutics, Inc; 2010.
Package insert:
Coumadin® (warfarin sodium) [package insert]. Princeton, NJ: Bristol-Myers Squibb; 2010.
Dissertation:
Etsey AN. Effects of Regular Ingestion of Natural Cocoa on Testicular Histology in
Streptozotocin-Induced Diabetic Rats [dissertation]. Accra: University of Ghana; 2009.
Clinical trial:
Pfizer. A study in patients with non-small cell lung cancer testing if erlotinib plus SU011248
(sunitinib) is better than erlotinib alone (SUN1058). Available from:
http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00265317. NLM identifier: NCT00265317. Accessed
August 1, 2011.
Unpublished material
In press:
Tian D, Araki H, Stahl E, Bergelson J, Kreitman M. Signature of balancing selection in
Arabidopsis. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. In press 2002.
Electronic material
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.].
http://www.nursingworld.org/AJN/2002/june/Wawatch.htm. Accessed April 3, 2003.
Homepage/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/. Accessed August 29, 2003.
*Iverson C, Christiansen S, Flanagin A, et al. AMA Manual of Style: A Guide for Authors and
Editors. 10th ed. New York, NY: Oxford University Press; 2007.
Language support for text and grammar editing for authors non-native English speakers
For authors who are non-native English speakers and require language support for text and grammar editing, IJIO offers the assistance of a scientific publishing expert.
The editing service includes:
Editing of the text in accordance with specialist and sectoral terminology
Reorganization of the sentences or text structure, where appropriate, according to UK English standards,
Reorganization of the text according to the guidelines for the drafting of specialist texts in the medical-scientific sector;
Grammar and spelling revision,
Correction of vocabulary and typos.
General feedback on the content and formatting of the text and references according to journal specifications
The expected cost for this professional support includes one additional editing round after the initial revision. Abstract writing and submission assistance services are also available upon request.
For more information, please contact the Editorial office at editorialoffice@edisciences.org .