Submissions

Author Guidelines

General guidelines

Audience

The audience for Clinical Management Issues consists of clinicians, both general practitioners and specialists, especially internists. Authors should bear in mind the multidisciplinary status of the readership when writing the article.

Key formatting points

Please ensure your paper concurs with the following article format:

• Title: concise, preferably not more than 180 characters.
• Author(s) names, affiliations, and email.
• Corresponding author: including full name and e-mail. Address, phone and fax numbers may also be reported.
• Type of article: editorial, case report, case series, article on clinical management, brief report
• Abstract: about 600-1,000 characters. No references should be cited in the abstract
• Keywords: approximately 3-5 keywords, preferably taken from the Mesh Terms (PubMed)
• Body of the article: article content under relevant headings and subheadings; according to the type of article, different sections are required (see below). For case reports, authors should follow the CARE Guidelines
• Diagnostic-therapeutic algorithm (optional, but highly suggested): tree-shaped, based on updated guidelines
• The recommendations, or the most common errors, or the myths to be busted, or the traps to be avoided or the key points: a short summary in a bullet list
• References (For full details on formatting see “Manuscript preparation” section below):

1. Should be numerically listed in the reference section in the order that they occur in the text or in Tables and Figures
2. Should appear as a number i.e., [1,2] in the text
3. Quote first three authors’ names. If there are more than three, then quote first three, et al.

• Figures/Tables (For full details on formatting see “Manuscript preparation” section below): summary figures/tables/boxes are very useful, and we encourage their use in articles. The author should include illustrations and tables to condense and illustrate the information they wish to convey. Commentary that augments an article and could be viewed as “stand-alone” should be included in a separate box. An example would be a summary of a particular trial or trial series, a case study summary or a series of terms explained. If any of the figures or tables used in the manuscript requires permission from the original publisher, it is the author’s responsibility to obtain this. Figures must be in an editable format.

Type of articles

Editorials

Editorials are short articles on issues of topical importance. We encourage our editorial writers to express their opinions, giving the author the opportunity to present criticism or address controversy. The intention is very much that the article should offer a personal perspective on a topic of recent interest.

Figures and tables can be included in editorials, if necessary.

Abstract: not needed

Word count: not less than 800 words

• Disclosure (funding)
• Conflicts of interest
• Acknowledgments (optional)

Case reports

A specific template (Case report template) is provided in order to help authors to format their manuscript.

A case report may be of interest to readership of Clinical Management Issues when:

• It concerns the decision-making process related to examination, evaluation, and diagnosis, for example, the presentation of an unusual combination of conditions, events or symptoms that may complicate the diagnosis or cast doubt on the choice of the treatment;
• It allows the description of new side effects of drugs, or interactions never observed before;
• It allows the study of the mechanism of a not well-known disease, or the detection of rare manifestations of a disease;
• It explains a new method, both of diagnosis or analysis;
• It highlights misdiagnoses involving severe risks for the patients;
• It has educational purposes, favoring, through the presentation of a real case, the review or the learning of diagnostic processes and the knowledge related to a given disease;
• It describes a deficiency in the therapeutic efficacy of a given intervention.

Word count: not less than 1800 words (excluding abstract and references)

Required sections

Authors are encouraged to follow the CARE Guidelines and to use the Checklist CARE in order to ensure that all relevant data of the clinical case has been reported. The CARE guidelines also provide a useful “Case report writing template for authors”.

Please note that the following sections recommended by the CARE Guidelines should be included under the section “Case Presentation”: Patient Information, Clinical Findings, Timeline, Diagnostic Assessment, Therapeutic Intervention, Follow-up and Outcomes. 

• Abstract
• Keywords
• Introduction
• Case Presentation:
• Patient Information
• Clinical Findings
• Timeline
• Diagnostic Assessment
• Therapeutic Intervention
• Follow-up and Outcomes
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• Box "Why we describe this case": describing the main interests of the case report (50-70 words)
• Box "What should the clinician ask him/herself or the patient?" (optional, but highly suggested): reporting the questions that should be asked facing such a patient (50-70 words)
• Diagnostic-therapeutic algorithm (optional, but highly suggested)
• Box "The recommendations", or "The most common errors", or "The myths to be busted", or "The traps to be avoided" or "The key points": a short summary in a bullet list
• References (for full details on formatting see “Manuscript preparation” section below)
• Disclosure (funding)
• Conflicts of interest
• Acknowledgments (optional)
• Consent to publication. It must be obtained from the patient described in the article (or parent, guardian, or relative in case of underage, mentally or physically impaired, or deceased patient). The signed form should neither be sent to the CMI journal manager, nor be uploaded in the submission platform. CMI journal does not collect these forms, but they must be held by the treating institution. In this section, please write “The consent to publication was obtained from the patient (parent, guardian, or relative) here described”. In fact, the consent to publication must be obtained from the patient described in the article (or parent, guardian, or relative in case of underage, mentally or physically impaired, or deceased patient). The signed form should neither be sent to the CMI journal manager, nor be uploaded in the submission platform. CMI journal does not collect these forms, but they must be held by the treating institution. You may use our form, available in English and Italian. Otherwise, your institutional consent form may be used, if all the required elements are present (see our form).

Case series

The case series describes the clinical course of a disease in a limited patient sample with similar diagnoses or undergoing the same procedure.

Word count: not less than 2500 words (excluding abstract and references)

Required sections

• Abstract
• Keywords
• Introduction
• Case Series Study Design:
• • Question
  • Study Population
  • Intervention
  • Outcome Measures
  • Statistical Analysis
• Results
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• A table reporting the main data for each patient (basal conditions and results)
• Box "The recommendations", or "The most common errors", or "The myths to be busted", or "The traps to be avoided" or "The key points": a short summary in a bullet list
• A Data sharing statement should be included. The statement should declare if raw data are available (and where), available upon reasonable request, or not available.
• References (For full details on formatting see “Manuscript preparation” section below)
• Disclosure (funding)
• Conflicts of interest
• Acknowledgments (optional)
• Consent to publication. It must be obtained from the patient described in the article (or parent, guardian, or relative in case of underage, mentally or physically impaired, or deceased patient). The signed form should neither be sent to the CMI journal manager, nor be uploaded in the submission platform. CMI journal does not collect these forms, but they must be held by the treating institution. In this section, please write “The consent to publication was obtained from the patient (parent, guardian, or relative) here described”. In fact, the consent to publication must be obtained from the patient described in the article (or parent, guardian, or relative in case of underage, mentally or physically impaired, or deceased patient). The signed form should neither be sent to the CMI journal manager, nor be uploaded in the submission platform. CMI journal does not collect these forms, but they must be held by the treating institution. You may use our form, available in English and Italian. Otherwise, your institutional consent form may be used, if all the required elements are present (see our form).

Clinical management

A specific template (Clinical management template) is provided in order to help authors to format their manuscript.

Articles on clinical management generally give an overview on the management of a specific pathology or a group of diseases, focusing on the differential diagnoses and/or the possible treatments. The information given should be updated according to the most recent guidelines.

Word count: not less than 2500 words (excluding abstract and references)

Required sections

• Abstract
• Keywords
• Introduction
• Issue Description
• Diagnosis (if relevant)
• Treatment (if relevant)
• Discussion
• Conclusion
• Diagnostic-therapeutic algorithm (optional, but highly suggested)
• Box "The recommendations", or "The most common errors", or "The myths to be busted", or "The traps to be avoided" or "The key points": a short summary in a bullet list
• References (For full details on formatting see “Manuscript preparation” section below)
• Disclosure (funding)
• Conflicts of interest
• Acknowledgments (optional)

Brief report

Brief Reports include small-scale research, preliminary results or pilot study addressed to a discrete research question. Scientific rigor and formal accuracy must be guaranteed. Brief reports should bring out a message adequate for the journal’s scope and of particular interest to the community.

Word count: not less than 2000 words

Required sections: the structure of the article is free, depending on the type of research and results.

• Disclosure (funding)
• Conflicts of interest
• Acknowledgments (optional)

Manuscript preparation

Headings

No more than three levels of subheading should be used to divide the text and should be clearly designated.

Abbreviations

Abbreviations should be defined on their first appearance, and in any table and figure footnotes. It is helpful if a separate list is provided of any abbreviations.

Language

The submitted manuscripts may be written in English (U.S. English spelling) or in Italian (abstract, keywords, and title, however, have to be written in English).

SEEd offers a service for authors who are not native English. Please contact us if you need any language service, as English language editing or translation.

References Format

• Author’s names should appear without full stops in their initials
• Quote first three authors’ names. If there are more than three, then quote first three, et al
• Journal name should be in italics and abbreviated to standard PubMed format
• Volume number followed by colon, not bold
• Page number range separated by a hyphen with no spaces
• DOI numbers

References Examples

• Journal example: Hostler D, Everson-Stewart S, Rea TD, et al; Resuscitation Outcomes Consortium Investigators. Effect of real-time feedback during cardiopulmonary resuscitation outside hospital: prospective, cluster-randomised trial. BMJ 2011; 342: d512; https://dx.doi.org/ 10.1136/bmj.d512
  or: Houssami N, Abraham LA, Miglioretti DL, et al. Accuracy and outcomes of screening mammography in women with a personal history of early-stage breast cancer. JAMA 2011; 305: 790-9; https://dx.doi.org/ 10.1001/jama.2011.188
• Book example: Lunet N. Meta-analysis of observational studies. In: La Torre G (ed). Applied Epidemiology and Biostatistics. Torino: SEEd Medical Publishers, 2010
• Meeting abstract example: Smith AB, Jones CD. Recent progress in the pharmacotherapy of diseases of the lower urinary tract. Presented at: 13th International Symposium on Medicinal Chemistry. Atlanta, GA, USA, 28 November-2 December 1994
• Website example: Merriam-Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. 11^th ed. Springfield, MA: Merriam-Webster Inc, 2003. Available at: http://ww.m-w.com/dictionary.htm (last accessed November 2012)
  or: National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence. Antisocial personality disorder. London: NICE, 2009. Available at: http://guidance.nice.org.uk/CG77/PublicInfo/pdf/English (last accessed October 2012)

Figures and schemes

Figures should be numbered consecutively according to the order in which they have been first cited in the text. Define in the legend all abbreviations that are used in the figure.

Figures should be placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.

Schemes, diagrams and flow-charts should be provided in an editable electronic format such as PowerPoint, or Excel.

Tables and boxes

Tables should be numbered consecutively according to the order in which they have been first cited in the text. Define in the legend all abbreviations that are used in the table/box. Tables and boxes can be incorporated into the body of the manuscript, preferably in either Word or Excel format.

Tables and Figures Copyright

If a table, or a figure or a box has been published previously (even if you were the author), acknowledge the original source and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the material where necessary.

As the author of your manuscript, you are responsible for obtaining permissions to use material owned by others. Since the permission-seeking process can be remarkably time-consuming, it is wise to begin writing for permission as soon as possible.

Please send us photocopies of letters or forms granting you permission for the use of copyrighted material so that we can see that any special requirements with regard to wording and placement of credits are fulfilled. Keep the originals for your files. If payment is required for use of the table/box, this should be covered by the author.