Information for Authors 

Academic Journal of Second Military Medical University (AJSMMU) or Di-er Junyi Daxue Xuebao (Chinese phonetic alphabets of the Chinese title), a peer-reviewed monthly biomedical journal, is sponsored by the Second Military Medical University, a well-known medical university in Shanghai, China. The coverage of the journal includes basic medical sciences, clinical medicine, public health and epidemiology, military medicine, pharmacology and Traditional Chinese Medicine. AJSMMU is abstracted in Excerpta Medica Database, Chemical Abstracts, the VINITI Abstracts Journal, CAB Abstracts, Index Copernicus, Scopus, Global Health, Chinese Medical Current Contents (CMCC),Chinese Scientific Citation Index(CSCI) and Chinese Pharmaceutical Abstracts(CPA). AJSMMU is also a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

1  SUBMISSION

1.1  Scope of Contributions. AJSMMU welcomes manuscripts in Chinese and English on all aspects of biology and medicine from any part of the world. Original research articles (both basic science studies and clinical trials) are especially welcome. Short communications, review papers and case reports are also acceptable.

1.2  Manuscript Submission. Manuscripts can be submitted online at http://www.ajsmmu.cn.All manuscripts should be accompanied by a cover letter giving details of

1) the title of a manuscript;

2) a statement that the manuscript has not been published in part or whole (except in the form of abstract) or is under consideration for publication elsewhere in any language;

3) a statement that all authors have agreed to be so listed and have seen and approved the manuscript and its submission to AJSMMU;

4) a full postal address, telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address;

5) financial arrangements or relationships that may pose conflict of interest;

6) illustrations such as figures, graphics and tables should be embedded in the text file or may be sent in separate files, preferably the former if possible.

2  PUBLICATION PROCESS

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

2.2  Review. A member of the editorial staff or designated advisory board member will determine whether the manuscript warrants further peer review, in which case the manuscript will be sent to at least two outside referees. The peer-review process takes approximately 1-2 months. 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. Authors are welcome to suggest suitable independent reviewers and may also request that the journal excludes one or two individuals or laboratories. It is at the editor’s discretion to determine the choice of referees and these decisions are final.

2.3  Revision. If revision is required, the authors should amend and resubmit the manuscript within 30 days. Resubmission after 30 days may be considered a new submission. If the revision is not satisfactory to the reviewers, the author may be asked to make a second revision. Articles are normally published within 3 months of acceptance.

2.4  Rejected Manuscripts. If a manuscript is not accepted, the authors will receive a decision letter that may or may not include the reviewers’ comments.

2.5  Proofreading. The corresponding author of a manuscript to be published will receive proofs. Checking the proofs is solely the author’s responsibility. The publisher is not responsible for any errors not marked by the author on the proof. The proof must be returned to the Editorial Office within 7 days of receipt.

2.6  Copyright Assignment. The copyright agreement form should be submitted once your paper has been accepted for publication. The corresponding author is responsible for obtaining signatures of coauthors. Upon acceptance of your paper, please fax the copyright agreement form to the Editorial Office of AJSMMU.

2.7  If plagiarism is found, the journal will contact the author’s institute and funding agencies. The paper containing the plagiarism will be marked on each page of the PDF and depending on the extent of the plagiarism, the paper may also be formally retracted.

3 MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION

These guidelines are in accordance with the “Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals”. Recent issues of AJSMMU should be consulted for examples.  

3.1  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) for financial support of the study.

3.2  Original Research Articles

3.2.1  Abstract. An abstract of no more than 250 words should follow the title page. The abstract should consist of four paragraphs, labeled Objective, Methods, Results, and Conclusion.

3.2.2  Key Words. On the abstract page, authors should provide 3 to 8 key words that capture the main topics of the article. Terms from Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of Index Medicus should be used.

3.2.3  Text. Word count for original research manuscripts should be no more than 4 000 words in English, or 6 000 words in Chinese. The text is usually divided into sections with headings such as Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion. For reports of randomized controlled trials authors should refer to the CONSORT 2010 statement, which can be found at www.consort-statement.org,and offer the flow-chart for screening trial objects.If the clinical trial reports are registered at the public test registration institution,authors should provide the name of the registration institution and the registration number.

3.2.4  Ethics. When reporting experiments on human subjects or animals, the authors should include an ethical 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 confidentiality of patients’ information must be preserved, and a statement to that effect 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 effect must be included.

3.2.5  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.

3.2.6  Tables. Number tables consecutively in the order of their first citation in the text and supply a brief title for each table. Abbreviations must be defined in footnotes. Identify statistical measures of variations, such as standard deviation and standard error of the mean. Identify statistical significance by superscripts in front of the probabilities (P),as in: ^nsP>0.05, ^*P<0.05,^**P<0.01 vs A. If you use data from another published source, obtain permission and acknowledge them fully.

3.2.7  Figures. Number figures consecutively in the text. Figures should be professionally drawn or photographed. Drawings must be of an acceptably high standard, and only letter-set printed material (not freehand or typewritten) should be employed. Letters, numbers, and symbols on figures should be clear. Titles and detailed explanations should be given in the figure legend. Photomicrographs should have internal scale markers. 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.

3.2.8  Acknowledgments. Acknowledgment(s) may briefly include assistance from 1) contributors that do not warrant authorship, 2) technical help, and 3) material support, as well as 4) financial support such as a grant.

3.2.9  References. Authors should check the accuracy of all reference citations. Unpublished data, classified periodicals, and personal communications may not be used as references. References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first cited in the text. Identify references in text, tables, and legends by superscript of Arabic numerals in parentheses. The titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in Index Medicus. List the authors (surname, initials), title of the article, name of the journal or book, year, volume (issue) and the first and last pages. If there are more than 6 authors, include the first  6 authors followed by “et al”.