Authorship
Conflict of Interest
and Disclosure
Scientific Misconduct and Breach
of Publication Ethics
Ombudsman
Clinical Trial Guidelines
CONSORT, STARD AND MOOSE Statements
Registration of Clinical
Trials
Genetic Studies
NIH-Funded Studies and Public Access
Authorship
Neurology adheres to the guidelines set by the
International Committee of Medical Journal Editors regarding authorship.
Persons designated as authors must meet all of the
following criteria: (1) contributing to the conception and design,
or analyzing and interpreting data; (2) drafting the article or
revising it critically for important intellectual content; and (3)
approving the final version to be published. Supporting the study
or collecting data does not constitute authorship. Authorship
based solely on position (e.g., research supervisor, department
head) is not permitted.
Multi-center trials attributed to corporate or multiple authors
must list all authors in the authorship position below the title
or in an Appendix. Any authors not meeting all criteria above
should be listed in the Appendix.
Manuscripts submitted for publication must list all authors, including the person who drafted the original manuscript.
This includes paid or unpaid medical writers (“ghost writers”).
Conflict of Interest and Disclosure
Neurology complies
with the position of the International Committee of Medical Journal
Editors on "Conflict of Interest." Conflict of interest
for authors is defined as "financial and other conflicts
of interest that might bias their work." Neurology is
adopting the American Academy of Neurology’s Conflict of Interest
and Disclosure Policy. This policy requires complete disclosure
of financial support from all authors, not just disclosures that
apply to the subject of the manuscript. This will be formally
adopted in February 2007 but all authors are required to comply
with this new policy effective December 15, 2006.
A signed Corresponding
Author Disclosure Form is required at the time of the initial
submission. Manuscripts will not be reviewed until this material
is received. Failure to reveal all pertinent information constitutes
a fraudulent submission and may cause a published paper to be
retracted and the authors to be prohibited from further submission
to Neurology. The corresponding author is also responsible for
obtaining individual Co-Author Disclosure Forms for all authors
listed on the title page and appendix. These forms must be kept
on file at the corresponding author's office for five years from
the date of submission. The corresponding author should state
in the cover letter that Co-Author Disclosure Forms were obtained
from all authors. Include a section titled "Disclosure"
on the title page of the manuscript. This section must include
each financial or nonfinancial disclosure for each author. This
must be consistent with disclosures made on the Corresponding
Author and Co-Author Disclosure forms. If there are no disclosures,
the corresponding author is responsible for including the following
statement on the title page: "Disclosure: The authors report
no conflicts of interest." Signed copies of the pertinent
individual Co-Author Disclosure Forms should be supplied to the
Editor-in-Chief, if requested.
Authors
are responsible for making certain that their final, accepted
manuscript and page proofs provide the "Disclosure"
section statement. This will include full disclosure of all potential
conflicts of interest (financial or nonfinancial) and any other
pertinent financial information.
Clear statements of industry-sponsored research and author participation
in corporate activities are required for evaluation of a manuscript.
Neurology now requires the principal author to declare
in writing that he or she takes full responsibility for the data,
the analyses and interpretation, and the conduct of the research;
that he or she has full access to all of the data;
and that he or she has the right to publish any and all data, separate
and apart from the attitudes of the sponsor. The principal author
is reminded of the importance of the statement in the bold, underlined
phrase above.
Scientific Misconduct and
Breach of Publication Ethics
Scientific misconduct includes fabrication, falsification, and plagiarism
with an intent to deceive by the authors. Honest error or differences
in interpretation are not considered misconduct.
Breaches of publication ethics include: failure to reveal financial
conflicts of interest; omitting a deserving author or adding a non
contributing author; misrepresenting publication status in the Reference
list (erroneously claiming that a paper is "In Press");
self-plagiarism without attribution; and duplicate or redundant
publication. Redundant or duplicate publication is publication
of data, tables, figures, or any other content that substantially
overlaps with previously published material. This includes work
published by others or any author of the manuscript submitted to
Neurology. When submitting a paper, the author should make
a full statement to the Editor-in-Chief in the cover letter about
all submissions and previous reports (in any language) that might
be regarded as redundant or duplicate publication of the same or
very similar work. The author should alert the Editor-in-Chief if
the work includes subjects about which a previous report has been
published. Any such work should be referred to and referenced in
the new paper and a copy of the material should be included with
the submission.
If authors include one or more sentences verbatim from another source,
the original source must be cited and the sentence(s) put in quotation
marks.
The manner in which Neurology will deal with scientific
misconduct and breaches of publication ethics is detailed in the
editorial written by the Journal's Scientific Integrity Advisor.
Ombudsman
For the benefit of authors, co-authors, editors, reviewers, and
readers, Neurology has an Ombudsman. Appointed by the American
Academy of Neurology Board of Directors, this person acts as a mediator
between authors and the Editorial Office. The Ombudsman can investigate
editorial process: delays in peer review, challenges to publication
ethics, and cases of editorial bias. The Ombudsman will not
handle complaints about the substance (rather than process) of
editorial decisions, criticisms regarding editorial content, or
accusations of scientific misconduct. The complainant should contact
the Editorial Office first to resolve the problem. If this is unsuccessful,
contact the Ombudsman, Lewis P. Rowland, Lewis P. Rowland, MD, Neurological
Institute, 710 West 168th Street, Columbia University Medical Center,
New York NY 10032, Phone: 212-305-8551, e-mail: lpr1@columbia.edu.
Clinical Trial Guidelines
Authors reporting clinical trials must indicate on the title page
of the manuscript the specific author that carried out the biostatistical
analysis and his/ her affiliation.
In the Results section of the manuscript, the following evidence-based
medicine statistics must be included for the manuscript to be forwarded
for editorial review:
- Confidence intervals
- Numbers needed to treat
- Absolute risk reduction
When reporting experiments on human subjects, indicate
whether the procedures were approved by the ethical standards committee
on human experimentation (institutional or regional). Authors must
comply with the guidelines of the International Committee of Medical
Journal Editors http://www.icmje.org
with regard to patient consent for research. Do not use patients'
names, initials, or hospital numbers anywhere in the manuscript
(including figures).
Neurology will consider smaller, uncontrolled, nonrandomized,
or unblinded clinical trials as Articles. They require a structured
abstract (250 words). The text should be succinct; not more than
1250 words.
CONSORT, STARD, and MOOSE Statements
Authors
reporting the results of randomized, controlled clinical trials
must provide a Consolidated Standards for Reporting Trials (CONSORT)
statement. Authors should conform to the
Standards for Reporting of Diagnostic Accuracy
(STARD) initiative and provide a statement to provide evidence
of complete reporting of studies on diagnostic accuracy. Authors
reporting the meta-analyses of observational studies must provide
a Meta-analysis Of Observational Studies in Epidemiology (MOOSE)
statement.
CONSORT,
STARD, and MOOSE statements include a checklist (for reviewers)
and CONSORT AND STARD statements also include a flow diagram (for
publication) detailing the methods used by the authors. To access
the current versions of these statements, go http://www.consort-statement.org/Downloads/download.htm/
The
Flowchart should be submitted as Figure 1 of the submitted manuscript.
Refer to a current print journal for optimal presentation of flow
charts. The checklist can be uploaded with the original submission
as Supplemental/ Additional File or faxed to (651) -332-8608.
Registration of Clinical Trials
Neurology requires investigators to register
their clinical trials in a public trials registry. The National
Library of Medicine provides a free registry http://prsinfo.clinicaltrials.gov/ that
meets the International Committee of Medical Jourrnal Editors
(ICMJE) requirements. Investigators should register at or prior
to patient enrollment. This policy will be effective for any clinical
trial starting enrollment after July 1, 2005. For further information
on definitions and other considerations, access www.icmje.org
Section III.J.
Genetic Studies
Authors of genetic association studies must consider whether their
results are likely to be considered of sufficient power and interest
to warrant publication. Neurology
follows the guidelines outlined by authorities in the genetics
research field. Calculations of statistical significance
must make appropriate corrections for multiple testing. After
such correction, the (experiment-wise) significance level must
not exceed 0.01 and should preferably be smaller than that limit.
For standard pedigree symbols and nomenclature, please refer to
the established guidelines. Authors should also follow the mutation
nomenclature rules of the Human Genome Variation Society. In addition, authors reporting such sequence variants
of a gene should submit it to the gene-specific mutation database
before the manuscript is submitted to confirm its accuracy.
Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium (HWE) values must be calculated and
reported in population genetic studies submitted to Neurology.
NIH-Funded
Studies and Public Access
As stated in Neurology's
copyright form, Academy Enterprises, Inc (AEI) authorizes NIH-funded
investigators to submit an electronic version of their final,
accepted manuscript to the NIH for publication on PubMedCentral
no earlier than twelve months after the print or online publication
in Neurology. The authorization is a nonexclusive license only
for the purpose stated in the NIH Public Access Policy (see 70
Federal Register 6899-6900 dated February 9, 2005); AEI reserves
all rights not specifically granted in this nonexclusive license.
Further information on the NIH Public Access Policy is available
at: http://publicaccess.nih.gov/
Articles are full-length reports of original
research. Maximum length is 3000 words not including abstract, figure legends, table
legends, and references. They require a structured abstract of 250 words or less.
Forty references and 5 figures OR tables are allowed. Multiple citations for a single point
are usually duplicative; authors should cite the best references.
Avoid citing non-peer reviewed work. Additional references and tables may be submitted
as Supplemental Data and published online at the discretion of the editor.
The Brief Communication
Classification has been eliminated.
Clinical/Scientific Notes are abbreviated reports on cases or
preliminary studies. They contain no more than 750 words, excluding
references, have no abstract, no more than one table or figure,
and no more than seven references.
Review
Articles are either a review or an opinion
statement that provide a summary of the most important recent
information on a topic. In general, they should not exceed 3500
words, excluding references and an abstract that is 250 words or less. References should cite the most important
papers in the field (not more than 60). Up to 6 figures are allowed. Neurology welcomes inquiries on Review Articles
content or format and will consider manuscripts proposing a Hypothesis only if written by an acknowledged
contributor to the field.
Neurology Clinical Pathological Conferences
will present the details of a specific
patient case with neurologic implications—-unusual or common—including
presenting symptoms, medical history and physical examination.
It will include a discussion by a well-known expert as to the
likely underlying diagnosis. The manuscript should not exceed 2000
words and may include a maximum of four figures and
tables (total) and 20 references.
Issues of Neurologic
Practice are articles related to the contemporary practice
of Neurology in the United States.
Historical Neurology
articles present original research on historical aspects of Neurology:
neurologists, diagnostic methods, or particular events that have
shaped the field. In general, they should be a maximum of 2000
words. They should have an abstract of not more than 250 words (a structured abstract is
optional) and no more than two figures or tables.
Reflections:
Neurology and the Humanities submissions may be in the
form of poetry or prose. Many neurologists are talented writers.
'Reflections' is intended as an arena for them. Its purpose is
to encourage creative writing about topics of interest to neurologists.
There are no hard and fast rules about subject matter, but items
that illustrate facets of the neurologic profession, particularly
if written from a new perspective, are preferred. The quality
of the writing style will be as important as the content in deciding
on publication. Submissions may be fiction or non-fiction. Privacy
rules apply. The manuscript must be 2000 words or less. Accepted,
published submissions to Reflections are eligible for the Annual
AAN Creative Express of Human Values in Neurology Award. Published
submissions are reviewed at the end of December each year. The
Award is then presented the following year at the Annual AAN Meeting.
Consult the Awards
Section of the AAN website for details. Only authors who
are members of the AAN can be considered for the Award.
Resident and Fellow Section
is an on-line only feature that serves the resident and fellow
readership. Residents and fellows are expected to be the primary
authors for most submissions but those highly involved in graduate
medical education (e.g. program directors) may also author submissions
on appropriate topics. Submissions should be 750 - 1000 words.
Articles can be up to 2500 words but should be much shorter. The
number of references should be ten or less and one table or figure
can be incorporated. The topic must be mentioned in the cover
letter of the submission. The article topics include: teaching,
ethics, practice, career choices, residency training, editorial,
international education, research, historical, opinion, book review,
training videos, or teaching NeuroImages. Teaching
NeuroImages have the same requirements as NeuroImages
(see below) but are especially valuable to the trainee audience
and will be published in the online Resident and Fellow Section.
A number of new categories have been added this year.
New Categories of the Resident and Fellow Section
Clinical Reasoning
Clinical Reasoning is a new initiative of the Resident and Fellow Section of Neurology. It focuses on case presentations with the aim of developing clinical reasoning skills among trainees. Appropriate cases for publication would include uncommon presentations of common neurological disorders and also typical presentations of more exotic disorders. The emphasis of the case presentation should be on generating a sound, thorough differential diagnosis; logically arriving at the correct diagnosis; and thoughtfully discussing the teaching-points of the case. Cases discussed in the section should utilize data presented serially in 2-4 segments that could be opened sequentially by the reader, allowing them to challenge themselves by thinking through the differential diagnosis or treatment options at each step. The manuscript should indicate where each break would occur, with specific questions for the reader to consider as they work their way through the case. The final section should provide the experienced clinician's discussion (or resident author's literature review). Ideally the individual sections will also include visually presented data, such as radiology, EEG, EMG, or other studies.
Right Brain
"Right Brain" is a new feature devoted to the relationship between neurology and the medical humanities, with submissions either written by trainees or with a focus on the experience of the trainee. Appropriate submissions include articles, commentaries and reflections on the interaction between neurology and history, literature, ethics, theology, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, poetry, theater, film, fine arts or the media. "Right Brain" also will publish original works of fiction, poetry, and reflection written by residents and fellows relating to the practice of neurology or neurology training.
Child Neurology Section
A new child neurology section in the Resident and Fellow Section of Neurology will focus on contemporary educational issues in child neurology. The goal of the section is to provide up-to-date reviews on important topics in child neurology that are relevant to all neurologists, both adult and child, particularly those still in their training. Examples include management of acute stroke in children, childhood demyelinating disease, neuroimaging in metabolic disorders, and the neurobiology of autism. Each piece will begin with a patient case, followed by a brief discussion about the differential diagnosis and a detailed discussion about the topic of focus. Submissions are welcome from residents and fellows in either child or adult neurology. Ideally, submissions will include the patient case as well as the discussion, but submission of timely review articles without an accompanying case will also be considered. In this situation, the editors of this section may supply an appropriate patient case.
Pearls and Oy-sters
"Pearls and Oy-sters" is a new feature of the Resident and Fellow Section of Neurology that will focus on fundamental clinical neurology. Each article should address a specific niche of neurological disease and provide expertise in the form of clinical insights and tips, i.e., "pearls," as well as advice for avoiding mistakes, or "oy-sters." The author may choose to address a particular facet of the approach to neurological disease such as localization, elaboration of a differential diagnosis, evaluation, or treatment. The article should concentrate on what may be found in a textbook and/or provide what textbooks cannot, in the form of knowledge rendered from clinical experience. The target audience consists of those in training; however, the subject matter should be of interest to all in the world of clinical neurology.
International Issues
More than 85% of the world's population lives in low and middle income countries, where the burden of neurological disease is the largest. Relatively little is known, however, about patients and practitioners of neurology in most countries. This section aims to explore international issues in neurology education. We welcome manuscripts describing international educational exchanges, personal rotations and experiences in low and middle income countries, and work by neurology trainees from around the globe. Descriptions of notable differences in training between countries are of interest. Inclusion of practical information regarding how interested residents might get involved in international programs would also be of use.
Emerging Subspecialties in Neurology
These manuscripts will review the history and development of emerging subspecialties in neurology, including fields such as Pain Medicine, Headache, Neurocritical Care, Interventional Neurology, and others. The focus should be on educating residents with a possible interest in this subspecialty. Those interested in writing these manuscripts should contact the Resident and Fellow Section Editor before submission to inquire about the need for an article on a particular topic.
NeuroImages
are interesting, previously unpublished photomicrographs, patient
photographs, neuroradiologic images, or other pictorial material.
They should consist of no more than two separate figures and have
a title of 96 characters or less (including spaces and punctuation),
a legend of 50 words or less, a case summary of 100 words or less,
and up to two references. Authors submitting in this category
do so with the understanding that, if accepted, their NeuroImage
might appear only in the online journal. Preference for acceptance will be given to well-written, superbly illustrated novel examples from neurological practice. Particularly clear examples of established observations may be considered for the online Resident and Fellow section of the journal.
Video NeuroImages
have the same requirements as NeuroImages except they
are accompanied by a video. Authors should submit Video NeuroImages
according to the requirements listed in the Video Format section.
These submissions should portray activity (e.g., seizure activity,
movement disorders, tics). A static portion of the video should
also accompany the submission and will be published in print if
it is accepted. Print readers will be alerted that the online
version contains the full-length video.
Correspondence is restricted
to comments about published articles. Correspondence must be
submitted within six weeks of the article’s publication. Neurology
does not consider letters pertaining to published correspondence.
Letters should be a maximum of 400 words with no more than five
references. Reference 1 should be the article to which the correspondence
refers. Readers wishing to submit Correspondence should access
the online version of the article at www.neurology.org
and click on "Submit a response to this article" in
the box at the opening page. Accepted comments will usually be
posted within 21 days of acceptance. Correspondence will be edited
for content and clarity. Posted comments will be considered for
subsequent print publication in the Correspondence section of
Neurology. Note that if Correspondence is chosen for
subsequent print publication, the letter writer will not see page
proofs. Online-only Correspondence is not indexed by PubMed. To
submit comments, you must be a member of the American Academy
of Neurology or have a current subscription to Neurology.
Correspondence cannot be uploaded through our online submission
system.
Authors of Correspondence sent to Neurology should keep the following
statement from the Uniform Requirements for Medical Journal Editors
regarding Correspondence in mind:
"Although editors have the prerogative to sift out correspondence material that
is irrelevant, uninteresting, or lacking in cogency, they have a responsibility
to allow a range of opinion to be expressed. The correspondence column should
not be used merely to promote the journal's or the editors' point of view. In
all instances, editors must make an effort to screen out discourteous, inaccurate,
or libelous statements, and should not allow ad hominem arguments intended to
discredit opinions or findings."
Corresponding Author Disclosure Form
Co-Author Disclosure Form
Copyright Transfer Agreement
CONSORT Statement
STARD Statement
MOOSE Statement
Corresponding Author
Disclosure Form - applicable for all submissions,
only corresponding author must sign
Co-Author
Disclosure Form - should be signed by all co-authors
and then sent to and kept by Corresponding author
Copyright
Transfer Agreement - applicable for all submissions,
only corresponding author must sign except in the case of a clinical
trial in which all authors must sign a copyright transfer agreement.
CONSORT Statement - applicable
only for clinical trials.
STARD
Statement - applicable only for studies of diagnostic
accuracy.
MOOSE
Statement– applicable only for meta data studies
Please indicate the assigned manuscript number on all submitted
forms. This number is provided to the corresponding author at
conclusion of upload and in the e-mail verification of a successfully
uploaded manuscript.
Signed forms can be uploaded into the Additional
File section at the online submission site or faxed to the editorial
office, fax (651) 332-8608.
General Formatting
Cover Letter
Title page
Abstract
Figures
Color Figures
Tables
Supplemental Data
Reference Style
Permissions and Patient Consent
General Formatting
Manuscript submissions to Neurology should be prepared
electronically and submitted in a standard word processing format;
Microsoft Word is preferred. Although conversions can be made
from other word processing formats and PDF files, the vagaries
of the conversion process may introduce errors. Do not submit
ASCII text files.
The manuscript should be formatted so as to print out double-spaced
at standard 8½" x 11" or A4 (international) paper dimensions,
using a 12 pt. font size and a default typeface (e.g., recommended
fonts are Times, Times New Roman, Courier, Helvetica and Arial).
Set the left margin at one inch, and the right margin at one-half
inch or more. Do not justify the right margin; leave it unaligned.
Place the page number and lead author's last name in the upper
right corner of each page (including the reference pages, tables,
and figure legends).
Observe the following guidelines in preparing
your electronic manuscript file:
- Use
hard returns only at the end of paragraphs and display lines
(e.g., titles, subheadings)
- Do
not insert a tab, indent, or extra spaces before the beginning
of a paragraph or for list entries
- Do
not indent run-over lines in references
- Set
line spacing at 2 (not 1.5 or 2.5)
- Turn
off automatic hyphenation and justification
- Do
not use automatic references
- Do
not insert hard page breaks
- Take
care to enter "one" (1) and lowercase "el"
(l), as well as "zero" (0) and capital "oh"
(O), correctly
Key dashes as follows: Use a single hyphen with
space before it for a minus sign, and a double hyphen (with space
before and after) to indicate an em-dash (long dash) in text. Use
only single hyphens in the references.
Nonstandard characters (Greek letters, mathematical symbols, etc.)
should be coded consistently throughout the text. Please make a
list of such characters and provide a key to the codes used.
Cover Letter
The cover letter for the new submission should include:
- Manuscript
title
- Manuscript
classification (e.g., Article, Clinical / Scientific Note)
- List
of all contents included in the submission
- If
color illustrations are included in the manuscript, please indicate
willingness to pay for color reproduction. For further information
on cost, see Color Illustrations.
- Disclosures
of financial interest, or notification of redundant or duplicate
publication to Editor-in-Chief (if applicable)
- Author's
statement of responsibility for clinical trial data (if applicable)
- Author's
statement that permission was received from author(s) of any
"personal communications" cited in the article
- Author's
declaration that all authors have agreed to conditions noted
on the Author Disclosure Form
- Author's
declaration that patient consent in the form of a signature
was received for any figure or video of a recognizable patient.
(If applicable). This form should be kept by the author but
should indicate specific use of patient's image and contain
patient's signature.
Title Page
The title should be no more than 96
characters in length, including spaces, punctuation,
and subtitle. Titles should be clinically interesting and informative.
They may include widely accepted abbreviations (click here for a complete list).
Provide
a word count for the paper and abstract, and a character count
for the title (including spaces and punctuation).
The title page should include the names of the authors followed
by their highest academic degrees (MD, PhD) and their institutional
affiliations. Authors may use either full names or initials except
when there are more than four; in that case, use only initials.
Include the name, address, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail
address of the author who will be receiving correspondence and
proofs.
Include a section titled "Disclosure" on the title page.
This section must include each financial or nonfinancial disclosures
for each author. This must be consistent with disclosures made
on the Corresponding Author and Co-Author Disclosure forms. If
there are no disclosures, the corresponding author is responsible
for including the following statement on the title page: "Disclosure:
The authors report no conflicts of interest."
On
the title page of the manuscript, author must specify who conducted
the statistical analysis with their professional affiliation listed.
If
applicable, the title page should indicate "Supplemental
Data" below the authors' affiliations. All Supplemental Data
and electronic file names should also be listed on the title page.
Authors
should choose 3-5 terms that cover the aspects of the submitted
article. Click here for the list of Search Terms. Please
designate the term and include the number to which it corresponds.
Abstract
Articles require structured
abstracts that should not exceed 250 words (one double-spaced
typed manuscript page). A structured abstract should be organized
by: objective (or background), methods, results, and conclusions.
For Review Articles, provide a 150- to 200-word abstract, structured
if possible. Clinical/Scientific Notes should not have an abstract.
Figures
Authors
should examine a recent issue of Neurology
to plan the appropriate layout and size when preparing their figures.
The width of a photograph should not be less than 8 cm (3.5 inches
or 20.5 picas). Symbols, lettering, and numbering should be sufficiently
large to remain legible after a figure has been reduced to fit
the width of a single column (i.e., they should measure at least
2 mm in the reduced figure). Multipart figures should be labeled
with capital roman letters, A, B, C, etc. Please submit multipart
figures as composite files.
In graphs, standard symbols should be used for data points in
the following order: Symbols like the following are
not acceptable: To prevent wasted space, axes
should end no more than one increment beyond the final data points.
Explanatory lettering should not extend beyond the ends of the
axes.
Figures
should not include titles, abbreviation keys, or patient initials.
Titles and abbreviations should be placed in the figure legend,
not on the figure itself. Avoid patient initials and other identifying
elements. Internal scale markers must appear on microscopic photographs.
Remove white type from MRIs, CTs, etc. Labeling should be in all
capital letters Use American spellings. Remove extraneous lines
from graphs (only include X, Y axis). Figure legends should be
double-spaced and appear on a separate page of the manuscript
document file. Number figures in the order of their mention in
the text. For supported electronic file requirements see the section
on Electronic and Video Submission.
Color Figures
Color figures are submitted with the understanding that the author
will pay for print reproduction. The author will be charged $850.00
for the first figure and $150.00 for each additional figure. For
online-only color images, authors will be charged $600 for one
page of color and $100 for each additional page of color. Please
refer to the instructions regarding figures above. For supported
electronic file requirements see the section on Electronic and
Video Submission.
Tables
Submit tables as part of the manuscript document file. Authors
should consult a recent issue of Neurology before designing
tables. Tables should be brief and easily understood without referring
to the text. Do not use color or shading within tables. Extensive
tabular data may be posted on Neurology's web site when
the article is published (see Supplemental
Data/Additional Files).
Put each table, including a title and legend (if applicable),
on a separate page. All tables must be double-spaced. Number tables
in the order of their mention in the text.
Supplemental
Data
Tables and other illustrative material submitted to Neurology should be succinct and easily interpreted by the
general readership. Often there are lengthy data that are important
to the study, yet difficult to summarize in print. These data,
which may take the form of tables, figures, data, references,
or appendices, can be posted on the Neurology web site and can also be referenced
in the print journal.
Authors who wish to submit detailed data to be considered with
their manuscript should upload these data upon submission. The
online data should also be referenced within the text. The title
page of the paper should indicate "Supplemental Data"
below the authors' affiliations. All Supplemental Data and electronic
file names should also be listed on the title page (e.g., Supplemental
Table, electronic file name: E-Table 1, Supplemental Appendix,
electronic file name: E-Appendix 2). See section on Supplemental Data/Additional Files for upload information.
If the manuscript is accepted, this supplemental data will be
posted as submitted and will
not be professionally copyedited or proofread. For
this reason, authors should carefully review their material. Neurology
will not be responsible for errors or omissions. See
Supplemental Data/Additional Files for
upload information.
Reference
Style
Cite
references in numerical order
in the text. List all authors when there are six or fewer; for
seven or more, list only the first three and add "et al."
Use Index Medicus abbreviations
for journal names but eliminate U.S. cities cited in parentheses
after the name of a journal. Do not reference papers that are
"submitted"; these should be mentioned in the body of
the text. Authors must provide "submitted" and "in
press" manuscripts clearly labeled as such by uploading them
as supplemental files with submission or faxing them to the editorial
office.
Personal communications should also be mentioned in the body of
the manuscript. Author must state in writing in the cover letter
of the submission that permission was obtained by the author of
any personal communication cited in the article.
References should follow the Vancouver style described in the
"Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical
journals" with the exception that pagination should be complete. The following are sample styles:
Journal article
Saunders-Pullman R, Soto-Valencia J, Costan-Toth C, et al.
A new screening tool for cervical dystonia. Neurology 2005;64:2046–2049.
Journal
article published online before print (when article is published,
use print citation) Vucic S, Black K, Tick Chong PS, Cros
D. Multifocal motor neuropathy with conduction block:
distribution of demyelination and axonal degeneration. Clin Neurophysiol
Epub 2006 Nov 7.
Published
abstract
van den Bent MJ, Keime-Guibert F, Brandes AA, Taphoorn MJB, Eskens
FALM, Delattre J-Y. Temozolomide chemotherapy in recurrent oligodendroglioma.
Neurology 2000;54(suppl 3):A12. Abstract.
Conference paper
Mark MH, Dickson DW, Schwarz KO, et al. Familial diffuse Lewy
body disease. Presented at the 10th International Symposium on
Parkinson's Disease; October 19, 1991; Tokyo.
In
press (forthcoming)
Tian D, Araki H, Stahl E, Bergelson J, Kreitman
M. Signature of balancing selection in Arabidopsis. Proc Natl Acad
Sci USA (in press).
Letter
Neurology Assessment Panel. Assessment of neuropsychological testing.
Neurology 1997;49:1183–1185. Letter
Book
Murray PR, Rosenthal KS, Kobayashi GS, Pfaller
MA. Medical Microbiology, 4th ed. St Louis: Mosby; 2002.
Gilstrap
LC 3rd, Cunningham FG, VanDorsten JP, editors. Operative Obstetrics,
2nd ed. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002.
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.
Online book
or Web site
Garrow A, Weinhouse G. Anoxic brain injury: assessment and prognosis.
In: UpToDate Cardiovascular Medicine [online]. Available at: www.UpToDateInc.com. Accessed
February 22, 2000.
Online journal article
Miyamoto O, Auer RN. Hypoxia, hyperoxia, ischemia, and brain necrosis.
Neurology [serial online] 2000;54:362-371. Available at: www.neurology.org.
Accessed February 23, 2000.
Monograph
in electronic format
Chee M, Chiappa K. Waveguide: an EEG atlas on CD-ROM. Philadelphia:
Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, 1998.
Computer file
EMG analyzer software [computer program]. Version 1.0. Tustin,
CA: B & L Engineering, 1998.
Online Correspondence
Henderson VW, Drachman DA. Dementia and voter competence [electronic
response to Swerdloff, Post-election anecdote]. Neurology 2002.
http://www.neurology.org/cgi/eletters/58/7/995
(accessed 21 May 2002).
Permissions and Patient Consent
Authors must submit written permission from the copyright owner
(usually the publisher) to use direct quotations, tables, or illustrations
that have appeared in copyrighted form elsewhere, along with complete
details about the source. Any permissions fees that might be required
by the copyright owner are the responsibility of the authors requesting
use of the borrowed material, not the responsibility of Lippincott
Williams & Wilkins. Author is responsible for obtaining
patient consent for any figure or video of a recognizable patient.
This form should indicate specific use of patient's image and contain
patient's signature. Author must also declare in cover letter to
Editor-in-Chief that consent was obtained but form must be kept
by the author.
Digital Figure Format (For Review Purposes)
Digital Figure Format (At Acceptance)
Video Format
Supplemental Data/ Additional Files
Digital figure format (For Review
Purposes)
For maximum quality, figures should be developed as separate files
in an approved format and should not be embedded in the text document.
Upload each figure as a separate Image File not as part
of the manuscript file. Composite figures (1A, 1B, 1C, 1D) should
be submitted as a single, composite file. JPG , PPT, PDF, and
GIF files may be submitted for review purposes only. Multi-page
Power Point (.ppt) files are not supported but one slide per file
is acceptable for review purposes. If the manuscript is accepted,
EPS or TIF files for digital art will be required. Digital files
must be saved at the size authors would like them to appear in
print.
Digital Figure Format (At Acceptance)
If the manuscript is accepted for publication, the author will
be required to submit print-quality electronic files for all art
that will appear in the printed article. Electronic art must
be submitted as either a TIF (tagged image file format) or
an EPS (encapsulated postscript) file. Digital images must be
saved at the size at which the author would like them to appear.
Crop and size images properly before importing them so that further
adjustment is not necessary.
Line art (graphs, charts, pedigrees) must have a resolution of
at least 1200 dpi (dots per inch) and half-tones (radiographs,
CT scans) must have a resolution of at least 600 dpi. Combination
half-tones (CT scan with lines or fonts) or any color photographs
must be 600 dpi. Files containing color photographs should include
the word “color” in the file name. Combination color with lines
or fonts should also be 600 dpi. If fonts are used in the artwork,
they must be converted to paths or outlines or they must be embedded
in the files. Color art should be saved as CMYK (cyan, magenta,
yellow, black) images. Art saved as RGB (red, green, blue) cannot
be reproduced in print and cannot be accepted.
Images to appear in black and white must be saved as a grayscale
image (not as CMYK). Formats not supported include: files utilizing
OLE (Object Linking and Embedding) technology to display information
or embed files, .bmp, .pict, .xls, .psd, .cnv, .cdr and locked
or encrypted .pdfs. Artwork downloaded from the internet will
not be accepted for publication.
Please note that artwork generated from Office Suite programs
such as Power Point, Corel Draw, and MS Word and artwork downloaded
from the Internet (JPG or GIF files) will not be accepted for
publication. Authors who are unable to provide figures in an approved
electronic format must follow the conventional submission guidelines
in the Neurology Information for Authors. In some cases,
hard glossies may be requested for figures if conversion or proper
formatting is not possible.
Video Format
Submit videos as separate Supplemental Data with your original
manuscript submission. A brief description of each video, titled
"Video legend," should be uploaded as a separate supplemental
file.
Videos should be named in the order of their text citation (e.g.,
video1.mov). If a video is directly related to a figure or table,
name it accordingly (e.g., Fig4video3.mov). Avoid lengthy file
names.
Video formats that are preferred include .wma, .mpg and .mov files.
To create high-quality video for the web at small file sizes,
download the free Windows Media Encoder at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/windowsmedia/9series/encoder/default.aspx.
Author is responsible for obtaining patient consent for any
figure of a recognizable patient. This form should indicate
specific use of patient's image and contain patient's signature
but must be kept by the author. Author must declare in cover letter
to Editor-in-Chief that the patient did consent and their signature
is on file.
Windows Media files can be seen by users on all computers, but
the tool to create the files can only be used on Windows machines.
For those authors who work on Macs, QuickTime creates good high-quality
files, but authors should be careful to select options that keep
file sizes small. If the author can create the video as an mpg
file, this will work for all users and result in a compressed
file size.
Videos must be no larger than 10 MB. We recommend Sorenson or Cinepak
compression, though other codecs may be used. Color depth should
be kept to a minimum, using grayscale for black and white videos.
Frame size should be limited to 450 x 375 pixels for best viewing
within a browser on most monitors. If necessary, split the video
into several clips.
Supplemental Data/ Additional Files
Supplemental Data is content that the author wishes to make available
online if the article is accepted for publication. This material
may include tables, figures, references and appendices. Before submission,
carefully review all information because it will not be read by
a professional copyeditor. Neurology and the Publisher are
not responsible for errors or omissions contained in data supplements.
The following are the accepted formats for Supplemental Data (other
formats are not accepted): Adobe PDF, GIF, HTML, JPG, Microsoft
Excel, Microsoft Word, and Plain text. All files may be compressed
using the ZIP® compression utility. Please name your files and cite
(within manuscript text) in the following way:
Tables: E-Table 1, E-Table 2, E-Table 3…
Figures: E-Figure 1, E-Figure 2, E-Figure 3…
Appendices: E-Appendix 1, E-Appendix 2, E-Appendix 3…
Any type of data not listed here can be listed by the full name
(e.g. Acknowledgement, Questionnaire) preceded by E.
Table and Figure Legends should be included on the same pages
as the Tables/ Figures.
Additional Files are CONSORT, STARD,
MOOSE files or In Press articles. These are examples of documents
that will not appear online if the article is published but are
necessary for the review process. When uploading Supplemental
Data or Additional Files, you will be prompted to
label them. Include as much information as possible in
the label. “Supplemental Data E- Table 1” or “Supplemental Data
E-Appendix 2”, “Additional File CONSORT checklist”, “Additional
File In Press Ref 7” are examples of labels which are helpful
in determining the purpose of the material.
Please remember that the larger the file size, the longer it
will take for users to download; therefore, whenever possible,
optimize your graphics files for Web publishing by reviewing the
Help information included with the application in which you have
saved the graphics so that you are providing the most compressed
file size possible. Files should be no larger than 10 MB.
Registering with Bench>Press
Online Help and Feedback
Uploading a Manuscript
Manuscript Status
Submitting a Revision
Invited Submissions
Correspondence
Registering with Bench>Press
Neurology’s online submission and manuscript tracking system
is Bench>Press located at http://submit.neurology.org. Users
must register when accessing the Bench>Press system for the
first time. A password will be created which applies to all journals
using the system. Once you have registered for your first Bench>Press
journal, you do not need to re-register in order to use another
journal's system. Simply log in with your existing email address
and password.
To set up your personal Bench>Press access, click on "Create
a new account." You will be asked to complete three steps:
- Email/Password
Enter your email address. This is your unique user identification
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a reviewer or author). Enter a password. This will be encrypted
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A verification e-mail containing a URL will be emailed to you
at the address you used to register. When you click it, you
will need to click on the URL provided in the e-mail or copy
and paste it into the address field in your web browser. This
will verify your e-mail address and helps to ensure that your
e-mail address is not being used fraudulently.
- Profile
Once you have verified your e-mail address, you will be asked
to provide a basic profile consisting of your contact information
plus expertise terms. Although you may use the same e-mail address
and password to access any journal using the Bench>Press
system, you must create an individual profile with each journal.
Online Help and Feedback
Detailed HELP files are available throughout Bench>Press
and can be used without stopping the submission process. If you
experience problems, you may contact the Editorial Office at journal@neurology.org
. Users are also encouraged to give us feedback on the system.
A Feedback link appears on the navigation bar throughout the Bench>Press
web site: Neurology-BP-feedback@highwire.stanford.edu.
Uploading a Manuscript
At the Bench>Press home page, enter the author area and click
on the "Submit a new manuscript" hyperlink. You will
be presented with a series of fields for entering your manuscript
information and uploading your manuscript (with tables), Image
Files (figures), and supplemental/ additional files (videos, etc.)
The system will automatically convert your files
to a single PDF for reviewing purposes. You will be asked to approve
the conversion before your manuscript is considered formally submitted
to the journal. The conversion process can take up to 30 minutes.
An e-mail will be sent informing you when the conversion is complete.
Click on "Ready for you to proof" in the author area
to approve your article. During conversion, the system will automatically
hyperlink the references to Medline (or, if the online journal
is hosted by HighWire, the journal in which the article was published).
Be sure to include the heading "References" at the top
of the citations and follow Neurology's Reference Style
for optimum linkage.
You may begin a submission and continue the process later by clicking
on "Save/Continue" at the bottom of the screen when
entering your manuscript information. This enables you to save
that page or continue to the next page. If you choose not to complete
the submission at that time, your manuscript will appear in the
"Submissions/Revisions in progress" queue in the Author
Area. If you decide not to complete the submission at all, you
should choose "Withdraw." Do not submit the same paper
more than once.
Please note:
Do not include the cover letter in the body of the manuscript.
It should be copied/pasted into the designated field.
Include the title page as the first page of the manuscript file.
Copy and paste the abstract into the designated field. The abstract
should also be page 2 of the manuscript file.
If your paper does not require an abstract, type "None".
See - Supplemental
Data/Additional Files
Manuscript Status
Authors who submit online through Bench>Press can keep track
of the status of their manuscript throughout the peer-review process.
Enter the Author Area and click on "Manuscripts under review/check
status."
Submitting a Revision
To submit a revised manuscript via Bench>Press, enter the author
area and click on "Submit a revised manuscript." You
will be presented with your original manuscript information, which
should be edited as necessary. You will then be required to upload
your revised manuscript files (see "Submitting a Manuscript"
for further details). Do not submit revisions with the edits displayed
(e.g., the editing or track changes tool should be turned off
when making edits). Upload the tracked changes version as a Supplemental
File labeled “Revised Manuscript with Changes Tracked.” Please
include your response to the reviewers' comments and a cover letter
to the Editor-in-Chief. If an author is dropped or added upon
revision, the responsible author must explain the reason(s) in
the cover letter of revision.
Invited Submissions
An invitation to write an Editorial for the journal may be requested
through the Bench>Press system. Enter the Author Area and click
on "Invited papers." You can accept or decline the invitation
online. When submitting your commissioned article, click on "Invited
papers to be submitted." The procedure for submission is
the same as an unsolicited article (see Submitting a Manuscript).
Correspondence
Correspondence cannot be submitted through Bench>Press. See
Correspondence for format and submission requirements.
Suggestions
to Authors - Neurology's preferences for writing style
Widely Accepted Abbreviations - These abbreviations may be used in the manuscript without providing definition.
Naming Standards for Online-Only Content Index Medicus journal abbreviations
Supported
Electronic Formats - authors who use other formats may be required
to resubmit their material
Most Common Requests of Neurology’s Authors
Title
- 96
characters in length, including spaces, punctuation, and subtitle.
- Title
should be clinically interesting and informative
- Use
Widely Accepted Abbreviations in title
Abstract
- Neurology requires a structured abstract
for a full-length article. A structured abstract should not
exceed 250 words and must include Objective (or Background),
Methods, Results, and Conclusions.
Manuscript
- Use Widely Accepted Abbreviations. Spell out the abbreviation
at first mention in the abstract and put the abbreviation in
parentheses. In the remainder of the manuscript, please use
only the abbreviation.
- In general, multiple citations for a single point are duplicative.
Cite the best ones. Avoid citing non-peer reviewed work.
- The introduction should be no more than 250 words.
- Do not include a conclusion/summary in your discussion; having
a conclusion in the abstract should suffice.
General
Usage and Style
- Reserve "significant" for statistics.
- Do not use a p-value and “significant(ly)” for the same point.
Use one or the other.
- Do not say “statistically” significant.
- Use American spellings.
- Avoid using “and/or”.
- Do not say "positive (or negative or inverse) correlation
(or association or relationship)". Say what happened.
- Reserve "parameters" for scientific measurements
- Do not use "respectively" – it is often incomprehensible
and always delays the reader.
- Unless a person is of known historical importance to the
field, do not cite last names in the body of your manuscript.
(e.g., In 1993, Jones et al reported…).
- If necessary, have your manuscript reviewed by a professional
editor and submit it in grammatically and syntactically acceptable,
idiomatic English. You may want to enlist the services of free-lance
editors: http://www.boldfaceeditors.com/
- Avoid priority claims (e.g, “This is the first study performing…”
, “We do not know of another study…”) Instead of generating
interest in a study, they tend to trivialize the findings. In
addition, such claims may offend authors whose earlier papers
on the topic may have appeared elsewhere.
- Do not use patients' names, initials, or hospital numbers
anywhere in the manuscript (including figures). Arabic numerals
should be used for numbers above nine, for designators (e.g.,
case 5, day 2, etc.), and for units of measure, including time.
Numbers should be spelled out if below 10 (including ordinals),
at the beginning and end of sentences, and for fractions less
than one.
- Generic drug names should generally be used. When proprietary
brands are used in research, include the brand name in parentheses
once in the Methods section.
References
- If more than six authors are listed in a reference cite only
the first three and add et al.
- If there are six or fewer authors cite all of them.
- Use continuous pagination ( e.g. 33-37, not 33-7)
Figures
- The
author will be charged $850 for a single color figure and $150
per each additional color figure. Please indicate your willingness
to pay for color reproduction in your cover letter.
- The
author will be charged $100 for an online only color NeuroImage.
Please indicate your willingness to pay for color reproduction
in your cover letter.
- Keys
should be within the confines of the figure or included in figure
legend
- Figure
Legend should be on a separate page from figure
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