Authorship Guidelines and Ethics

The Clinics Authorship Guidelines are based on the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors’ (ICMJE) authorship criteria (www.icmje.org). The ICMJE recommends that authorship be determined by the following:

1. Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
2. Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content; AND
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.

Please be advised:

• Any individuals who do not meet the ICMJE criteria for authorship but have contributed to the manuscript in some way should be listed in an Acknowledgements section.
• Each individual listed as an author is expected to have contributed to the article to a significant extent in line with ICMJE guidelines. While the editors and Publisher make every effort to ensure the validity of manuscript content, the ultimate responsibility lies with the authors.
• The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others, that this has been appropriately cited or quoted.
• All submissions must include disclosure of all relationships that could be viewed as presenting a potential conflict of interest.
• When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author's obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.
• Statements of compliance are required if the work involves chemicals, procedures or equipment that have any unusual hazards inherent in their use, or if it involves the use of animal or human subjects.

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Article Submission and review

• Submit your article via the Electronic Manuscript Submission System (EMSS). Login information will be provided by your Clinics Developmental Editor.
• Please note that authorship in the Clinics is by invitation only. We do not accept unsolicited submissions. Following invitation and acceptance, a project welcome note and manuscript guidelines specific to your volume will be sent to you via email.
• Articles are commissioned by the Clinics issue Guest Editor(s), a subject matter expert, who then reviews the content for accuracy when the manuscript is submitted. This is done in coordination with the series Consulting Editor or Editor-in-Chief, a key opinion leader in the field, who oversees the topic and editor selection.
• Although all manuscripts are invitation-only, if the quality and content of an article is not deemed acceptable after submission, the section editor and editor-in-chief reserve the right to request revisions to bring the paper up to the publication’s standards. If authors choose not to make these revisions the paper will not be accepted.
• To appeal a decision by the guest/section editor and/or editor-in-chief relating to the review process, please contact the Editor [see individual journal for your editor contact information]. Any further decision taken by the editorial board or Elsevier is final and will be communicated to the author.

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Review and Editorial Process

• The Clinics and Advances review article journals publish high-quality, invited review content on a bi-monthly, quarterly or annual basis. Each journal’s editorial board and format may vary in make up from series to series, but throughout each there is always multiple levels of editorial review built into the format.
• Leading, world-class subject matter experts partner with us to invite esteemed editorial board members and authors to prepare invited manuscripts.
• Consulting Editors and Editors-in-chief are selected and invited based on having a strong and proven background not just in their medical area of expertise, but also within the field of publishing.
• Volume/Issue themes are selected in advance, so each publication is planned, invited, curated with a specific goal in mind.
• Cover months are set in advance and do not change.
• Although Clinics and Advances staff work seamlessly with editors and authors, final editorial ownership of the journal resides with Elsevier and we reserve the right to make final decisions on publication of all manuscripts.

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Content Format and Focus

• Manuscripts focus on the most current methods, techniques, evidence, and controversies in clinical practice and typically are about 4000-6000 words in length (please see your specific issue for individual instructions).
• Visual elements in the form of figures, tables, and boxes are particularly encouraged, as are videos.
• Specific templates (outlines) are followed for each article. The template will be attached to your welcome email, and is also available in the “Resources” tab in EMSS.
• Manuscript length and guidelines are mentioned in your welcome email. Length includes title page, key points, text, references, and figure legends but does not include tables, boxes, or figures.

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Manuscript Preparation

Title Page

• Provide each author’s full name, degree, affiliation, email, and mailing address.
• Indicate the corresponding author. (This person will receive proofs of the article via email.)
• Include a disclosure statement with any commercial or financial conflicts of interest and any funding sources for all authors. If disclosures are not included in the manuscript, we may ask you to complete a formal disclosure form (for CME purposes).
• Provide a one-paragraph synopsis of 100 words or fewer (used for indexing services such as PubMed).
• Include 3-8 keywords and 3-5 key points (used to expedite topic understanding and online searchability).

Article Content

• Adhere to the template provided in your welcome email.
• Double-space text in 10- or 12-point type, with 1-inch margins.
• Present information in a visual manner that supports/expands on the text (e.g., boxes and tables).
• Order references numerically within the text, using AMA style (JAMA style if using EndNote).
• Journal article: Simpkins H, Schoaf F, Katz J, et al. An acute granular lymphoid leukemia: a case report. Hum Pathol 1987;18:93-9.
• Clinics article: Aron DN, Crowe DT. Upper airway obstruction. Surg Clin North Am 1999;46:1224-45.
• Chapter in a single-authored book: Haeney M. Antibody deficiency. In: Introduction to clinical immunology. London: Butterworth; 1985. p. 64-87.
• Chapter in a multi-authored book: Krane SM, Near RM. Connective tissue. In: Smith LJ Jr, Their SO, editors. Pathophysiology: the biological principles of disease, 2nd edition (International Textbook of Medicine, vol 1). Philadelphia: WB Saunders; 1985. p. 611-26.
• Website: Vaden SL. What’s on the horizon for management of proteinuria renal diseases? In: ACVIM Forum Proceedings. 2009. Available at: http://www.vin.com/Members/Proceedings/. Accessed October 20, 2010.

Figures, Tables, Boxes, and Videos

• Provide high-resolution figures in JPEG, TIF, EPS, PSD, PDF, or PPT format. Do not embed figures in MS Word documents. Figures will appear in color online and select images will appear in color in print.
• Submit each figure or video as a separate file in the “Figures” tab in EMSS. If a file is larger than 100 MB, contact your Clinics Developmental Editor.
• Number figures, tables, boxes, and videos consecutively and mention each in the text (e.g., see Table 1).
• Label each part of multi-part figures, using uppercase letters A, B, C, etc.
• Include a legend for every figure and video and a title for every table and box.
• Provide a full citation and credit line if using borrowed material, and obtain permission from the original source. Reference numbers alone are not a sufficient citation and will delay production.
• Set credit lines as follows:
• Figures/Tables with published data: “Data from [source citation]” (does not require permission).
• Previously published materials: “From [source citation]; with permission” (requires permission).
• Previously published materials that you have altered: “Adapted from [source citation]; with permission” (may require permission).

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Permissions

• Authors are responsible for obtaining permission in writing for all borrowed material. Forward all permissions documentation and licenses to your Clinics Developmental Editor.
• All product or equipment photos require written permission from the manufacturer.
• In the case of third-party material that may not need permission, such as open-access or public domain, the source must still be correctly identified. If you did not create it, we need to know where it came from.
• Our authors sign rights forms that clearly state that Patient Consent was obtained and that permission was given to use all images, including any and all patient images. Due to patient confidentiality laws, Elsevier cannot retain copies of patient releases and rely on authors securing the appropriate permission before publishing with us.
• Our permissions team checks that copyright grants are correct and in good order and will contact authors before publication if any permissions are missing. We reserve the right not to publish an item if appropriate permission has not been secured.

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Article Publication

• Articles can be published open access as part of our program and the option will be given for authors to select open access at the time they sign their journal publishing agreement. Details and fees are outlined at that point in the process.
• All authors will receive a complimentary copy of the print issue, and the corresponding author will also receive a PDF of the article to share with coauthors. To order reprints, contact [email protected].
• Instructions for complimentary online access to the Clinics for one year will be sent to corresponding authors approximately two weeks after publication. If you do not receive your complimentary online access, please contact [email protected].
• Please note theclinics.com is primarily and access point for individual subscribers and contributors. ScienceDirect and ClinicalKey are platforms for access through an institutional subscription.

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Post-publication Corrections

• If authors notice a mistake in their manuscript following publication, please reach out to anyone in the Elsevier editorial team and we can initiate an immediate correction online, as well as a correction for future printings of the volume.
• If the error is critical or otherwise warrants it, we can also issue an erratum in the next available issue for publication.

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Conflict of Interest Statement

• DISCLOSE ANY RELATIONSHIP with a commercial company that has a direct financial interest in the subject matter or materials discussed in the article or with a company making a competing product. Clinics publications that offer optional CME/CE credits require completion of specific disclosure forms that will be sent to authors later in the project. If nothing to disclose, please state "The Authors have nothing to disclose..

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Informed Consent Statement

• Use of patient images or case details
  Studies on patients or volunteers require ethics committee approval and informed consent, which should be documented in the paper. Appropriate consents, permissions and releases must be obtained where an author wishes to include case details or other personal information or images of patients and any other individuals in an Elsevier publication. Written consents must be retained by the author and copies of the consents or evidence that such consents have been obtained must be provided to Elsevier on request. Particular care should be taken with obtaining consent where children are concerned (in particular where a child has special needs or learning disabilities), where an individual's head or face appears, or where reference is made to an individual's name or other personal details.

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Human and Animal Rights

• Hazards and human or animal subjects
  If the work involves chemicals, procedures, or equipment that has any unusual hazards inherent in their use, the author must clearly identify these in the manuscript. If the work involves the use of animal or human subjects, the author should ensure that the manuscript contains a statement that all procedures were performed in compliance with relevant laws and institutional guidelines and that the appropriate institutional committee(s) has approved them. Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed.

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Data Sharing

• Research Data
  This journal encourages and enables you to share data that supports your research publication where appropriate. Research data refers to the results of observations or experimentation that validate research findings. To facilitate reproducibility and data reuse, this journal also encourages you to share your software, code, models, algorithms, protocols, methods and other useful materials related to the project.
• For more information on depositing, sharing and using research data and other relevant research materials, visit the Research Data Page.

* Please note, these guidelines also apply to the Advances series in the program.

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