INSTRUCTION FOR AUTHORS

INSTRUCTION FOR AUTHORS

World Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine (WJITWM) is a journal published quarterly in English by China Association for Science and Technology, and sponsored by China Association of Chinese Medicine. WJITWM aims to report the experience and achievements of Chinese medicine and integrative medicine in clinical, scientif i c research, etc., to explore the ideas and methods of the future development of Chinese and western integrative medicine, to introduce the latest progress at home and abroad in the related fi elds and to promote the international exchanges of Chinese medicine and integrative medicine.

WJITWM welcomes manuscripts from all over the world, on all aspects of medicine, such as traditional Chinese medicine, integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine, acupuncture, Ayurvedic medicine, herbal medicine, homeopathy, nutrition, chiropractic, mind-body medicine, Taichi, Qigong, meditation, and any other alternative medicine (CAM). Article types include reviews, systematic reviews and meta-analyses, randomized controlled and pragmatic trials, translational and patient-centered effectiveness outcome studies, case series and reports, clinical trial protocols, preclinical and basic science studies, papers on methodology and CAM history or education, editorials, global views, commentaries, short communications, book reviews, conference proceedings, and letters to the editor.

Manuscript Submission

All submitted manuscripts are not assumed to be published previously or concurrently submitted for publication elsewhere. Manuscripts should be prepared for submission in doc or docx format (Word), single-columned, A4 size, 12pt, single spaced, with tables inserted in the text and fi gures provided in the original editable form. Manuscript should be delivered to sjzxyjhyw@126.com.

Terms of Submission

Manuscripts containing original material are accepted for consideration if neither the article nor any part of its essential substance, tables, or figures has been or will be published or submitted elsewhere before appearing in the WJITWM. This restriction does not apply to abstracts or press reports published in connection with scientific meetings. The submitting author is responsible for ensuring that the article’s publication has been approved by all the other coauthors. It is also the authors’responsibility to ensure that the articles emanating from a particular institution are submitted with the approval of the necessary institution. Only an acknowledgment from the editorial office officially establishes the date of receipt. Further correspondence and proofs will be sent to the author(s) before publication unless otherwise indicated. It is a condition of submission of a paper that the authors permit editing of the paper for readability. All enquiries concerning the publication of accepted papers should be addressed to sjzxyjhyw@126.com.

PUBLICATION PROCESS

Manuscript Receipt

Upon the receipt of the manuscript, the WJITWM Editorial Office will assign a code number, which is to be used in all subsequent correspondence.

Peer Review

All manuscripts are subject to peer review and are expected to meet standards of academic excellence. Submissions will be considered by an editor and “if not rejected right away” by peer-reviewers, whose identities will remain anonymous to the authors. Based on the comments of the reviewers, the journal editor determines whether the manuscript is accepted, rejected, or requires revision before publication, and the decision will be sent to the authors.

Revision

If revision is required, the authors should amend and resubmit the manuscript within 30 days. Resubmission after 30 days may be considered as a new submission. If the revision is not satisfactory to the reviewers, the author may be asked to make a second revision.

Proofreading

The submitting author or corresponding author of a manuscript to be published will receive proofs. Corrected proofs must be returned to the publisher within 2-3 days of receipt. The publisher will do everything possible to ensure prompt publication. It will therefore be appreciated if the manuscripts and fi gures conform from the outset to the style of the journal.

MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

Title Page

The title page should carry the following information: 1) title of the article; 2) name and institutional affiliation of each author; 3) the designated corresponding author’s name, mailing address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address; 4) source(s) of fi nancial support of the study.

Original Research Articles

The abstract should be self-contained and citation- free and should not exceed 250 words.

On the abstract page, authors should provide 3 to 8 keywords that capture the main topics of the article. Terms from Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of MEDLINE/PubMed (http:// www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh) should be used.

Main Text

Word count for original research manuscripts should be no more than 4 000 words. The text is usually divided into sections with headings such as Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusion. For reports of RCTs authors should refer to the CONSORT 2010 Statement, which can be found at http://www.consort- statement.org.

Introduction

This section should be succinct, with no subheadings. The name of Chinese herbal medicine should be used in Latin instead of Pinyin.

Materials and Methods

This part should contain sufficient detail so that all procedures can be repeated. It can be divided into subsections if several methods are described.

Results

Emphasize or summarize only the most important observations. When data are summarized in the Results section, give numeric results not only as derivatives (for example, percentages) but also as the absolute numbers from which the derivatives were calculated, and specify the statistical methods used to analyze them. Do not duplicate data in graphs and tables. Avoid nontechnical uses of technical terms in statistics, such as “random” (which implies a randomizing device), “normal,”“signif i cant,” “correlations,” and “sample.”

Discussion

Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and the conclusions that follow from them in the context of the totality of the best available evidence. Do not repeat in detail data or other information given in the Introduction or the Results section. For research articles, it is useful to begin the discussion by briefly summarizing the main findings, then explore possible mechanisms or explanations for these fi ndings, compare and contrast the results with other relevant studies, state the limitations of the study, and explore the implications of the fi ndings for future research and for clinical practice.

Conclusions

This should clearly explain the main conclusions of the work highlighting its importance and relevance.

Ethics

When reporting experiments on human subjects or animals, the authors should include a statement in the Materials section. Human experiments must be performed in accordance with international ethical standards such as the Declaration of Helsinki, and the research protocol must be approved by an institutional review board (IRB) or equivalent human ethics committee. Documented informed consent must be obtained from all human subjects of clinical research prior to any experiment; the conf i dentiality of patients’ information must be preserved and a statement to that ef f ect must be included. Laboratory research involving animals must comply with guidelines for animal care and use; the experimental protocol must be approved by the institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC), and a statement to that ef f ect must be included.

Statistical Methods

Statistical methods should be described in sufficient detail to enable a knowledgeable reader to assess the appropriateness of the statistical analysis used. Statistical terms, abbreviations, and symbols must be defined, and computer software must be specified. Lacunae in observations, such as dropouts from the study, should be reported, and the intend-to-treat method should be applied.

Preparation of Figures

Upon submission of an article, authors are supposed to include all figures and tables in the Word file of the manuscript. If the article is accepted, authors will be asked to provide the source fi les of the fi gures. All fi gures should be cited in the paper in a consecutive order.

Legends for figures should be printed out with Arabic numerals corresponding to the illustrations. Explain the internal scale and identify the method of staining and magnification of photomicrographs. When symbols, arrows, numbers, or letters are used to identify parts of the illustrations, identify and explain each one clearly in the legend. Abbreviations must be explained.

If photographs of people are used, either the subjects must not be identifiable or written permission from the depicted individuals must be included. If a figure has been published, acknowledge the original source and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the material.

Preparation of Tables

Every table must have a descriptive title and if numerical measurements are given, the units should be included in the column heading. Vertical rules should not be used.

Acknowledgments

All acknowledgments (if any) should be included at the very end of the paper before the references and may include supporting grants, presentations, and so forth.

Authors should check the accuracy of all reference citations. References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first cited in the text. The form of references should conform to the index Medicus. List all authors when there are three or fewer; when there are four or more, list the fi rst three, followed by”et al”. The following are sample references.

1 Yamada K, Knoda Y, Nakayma S, et al. Role of nitric oxide in learning and memory and in monoamine metabolism in the rat brain. Br J Pharmacol. 1995, 115(5): 852—858.

2 Wellens HJJ, Brugada P, Bar F. Diagnosis and treatment of the regular tachycardia with a narrow QRS complex. In:Klbertus HE,ed. Medical management of cardiac arrhythmias. Edinburgh, Scotland: Churchill Livingstone. 1986: 121—132.

Other Types of Articles

Review Articles

Research review and systematic review articles are welcome and undergo the same peer-review and editorial process as original research reports. A research review article discusses a focused topic of recent research in integrated traditional Chinese and western medicine, with commentary and analysis concerning the topic; a single-paragraph summary of fewer than 250 words should be included. For systematic reviews authors should refer to the PRISMA Statement, which can be found at http:// www. prisma-statement.org. The author(s) of a review article should provide a comprehensive and critical but balanced view of the fi eld. Review papers may be up to 5 000 words.

Study Protocol

Study protocol should be for a proposed or ongoing RCT. It should follow the CONSORT guidelines and must have a trial registration number. Study protocols will usually be published without peer review if the study has received ethics approval and a grant from a major funding body (proof will be required). Study protocols without funding or ethical approval will be peer reviewed. A manuscript for study protocol should be divided into the following sections: Title Page, Abstract (consists of 4 paragraphs, labeled as Background, Methods/Design, Discussion, and Trial Registration), Keywords, Background and Signif i cance/ Preliminary Studies, Study Aims, Study Design/ Methods, Discussion, Competing Interests, Authors’ Contributions, Acknowledgements and Funding, and References. Publishing your study protocol in WJITWM does not commit you to submitting subsequent reports of the study to us, although we do, of course, welcome such submissions.

Case Reports

Case reports will be considered if of particular interest. These should be less than 2 000 words, do not include an abstract, and should include a brief introduction and concise discussion describing the value of the report.

Short Reports

Short communications should be no more than 2 000 words, including title, author affiliations, references, and one figure or table. They do not include an abstract.

Letters to the Editor

Letters to the editor should be no more than 1 000 words. Preference is given to criticisms or comments related to articles published in WJITWM.

COPYRIGHT

Copyright © 2015, World Journal of Integrated Traditional and Western Medicine Editorial office. All rights reserved.

Abstracts of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) should consist of six paragraphs, labeled Background, Objective, Design, setting, participants and interventions, Main outcome measures, Results, and Conclusion. The trial registration number should be included as the last line of the abstract.

Abstracts of original experimental research papers should consist of four paragraphs, labeled Objective, Methods, Results and Conclusion.