Formats

Articles

Articles are original reports whose conclusions represent a substantial advance in understanding of an important problem and have immediate, far-reaching implications. They do not normally exceed 5 pages of JIHM and have no more than 50 references. (One page of undiluted text is about 1,300 words.)

Articles have a summary, separate from the main text, of up to 300 words, which does not have references, and does not contain numbers, abbreviations, acronyms or measurements unless essential. It is aimed at readers outside the discipline. This summary contains a paragraph (2-3 sentences) of basic-level introduction to the field; a brief account of the background and rationale of the work; a statement of the main conclusions (introduced by the phrase 'Here we show' or its equivalent); and finally, 2-3 sentences putting the main findings into general context so it is clear how the results described in the paper have moved the field forwards.

Articles are typically 3,000 words of text, beginning with up to 500 words of referenced text expanding on the background to the work (some overlap with the summary is acceptable), before proceeding to a concise, focused account of the findings, ending with one or two short paragraphs of discussion.

The text may contain a few short subheadings (not more than six in total) of no more than 40 characters each (less than one line of text in length).

Articles typically have 5 or 6 display items (figures or tables).

Letters

Letters are short reports of original research focused on an outstanding finding whose importance means that it will be of interest to scientists in other fields.

They do not normally exceed 4 pages of JIHM,, and have no more than 30 references. They begin with a fully referenced paragraph, ideally of about 200 words, but certainly no more than 300 words, aimed at readers in other disciplines. This paragraph starts with a 2-3 sentence basic introduction to the field; followed by a one-sentence statement of the main conclusions starting 'Here we show' or equivalent phrase; and finally, 2-3 sentences putting the main findings into general context so it is clear how the results described in the paper have moved the field forwards.

The rest of the text is typically about 1,500 words long. Any discussion at the end of the text should be as succinct as possible, not repeating previous summary/introduction material, to briefly convey the general relevance of the work.

Letters typically have 3 or 4 small display items (figures or tables).

Word counts refer to the text of the paper. References, title, author list and acknowledgements do not have to be included in total word counts.

Brief Communications Arising and Corrections

Brief Communications Arising is exceptionally interesting or important comments and clarifications on original research papers or other peer-reviewed material published in JIHM.

Other contributions to JIHM

JIHM is also open to other contributions, such as: News and Comment, Correspondence, Opinion, Books & Arts, News & Views, Insights, Reviews and Perspectives.

Editorial handling of papers

A paper send to the Editorial Office ( O endereço de e-mail address está sendo protegido de spambots. Você precisa ativar o JavaScript enabled para vê-lo. ) is screened for style before assigning it to the Editor-in-Chief. The Editorial Office then assigns submitted paper to the Editor-in-Chief who in turn assigns it to an Editor with appropriate expertise. The Editor is responsible for making the final decision to accept/revise/reject. Before submitting a paper to referees, the Editor-in-Chief or Editor will prescreen the paper to check that it fulfils minimum basic criteria that would make it potentially suitable for JIHM: nature of study, quantity and quality of data, general conclusions and standard of presentation.

If the paper does not fulfill these criteria, it may be rejected at this stage. Papers that pass the prescreening stage will normally be sent to at least two independent referees, but the Editor may also act as a referee him/herself. The use of referees suggested by authors is at the discretion of the Editor/Editor-in-Chief. Comments of reviewers and editorial inputs will be intimated to the corresponding author. Authors should revise MS as per reviewers‟ suggestions and provide point by-point reply to comments raised by reviewers, as a separate MS Word file.

If revision of a paper is requested, the revised version should be returned within 45 days. If more time is required, the author should contact the Editorial Office or the Editor-in-Chief to agree a new deadline. If revision is delayed by the author without prior agreement, the revised version will be treated as a new submission.