Submissions

Author Guidelines

Aim and scope

The Chronic Diseases Journal is a biannual peer-reviewed scientific journal published by Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences. The manuscripts on the topic of chronic and subacute medical and health conditions and diseases will be published in this journal. This contains all aspects of the chronic and subacute diseases such as control, planning, treatment, patient education, managing guides, policymaking, and biopsychosocial-spiritual factors.

Language editing

For editors and reviewers to accurately assess the work presented in your manuscript you need to ensure the English language is of sufficient quality to be understood. If you need help with writing in English you should consider:

• Asking a colleague who is a native English speaker to review your manuscript for clarity.
• Using a professional language editing service where editors will improve the English to ensure that your meaning is clear and identify problems that require your review.

Types of Manuscripts

• Original article

This is the most common type of journal manuscript used to publish full reports of data from research. It may be called an Original Article, Research Article, Research, or just Article, depending on the journal. The Original Research format is suitable for many different fields and different types of studies. In fact, research article refers to articles that have a new idea and innovation compared to previous research in writing instead of dealing with the results of previous research. A research article is a base article that has been written using raw data obtained by the researcher and is based on the analysis as well as the interpretation of this data and does not focus on the analysis of information obtained from previous research.

A research article is devoted to solving a specific problem that has not been previously addressed or that the solutions provided are questionable. The writing of scientific research articles has certain standards and patterns, and in compiling them, the elements of writing a standard article must be observed. It includes: Title, bstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Conflict of Interests, Acknowledgments, References.

The researchers describe their hypothesis or research question and the purpose of the study.

The researchers detail their research methods.

The results of the research are reported.

The researchers interpret their results and discuss possible implications.

Original scientific research should be 3000 words.

The maximum number of references for original articles is only 25.

• Review article

Review articles provide a comprehensive summary of research on a certain topic, and a perspective on the state of the field and where it is heading. In the medical sciences, the importance of review articles is rising. When clinicians want to update their knowledge and generate guidelines about a topic, they frequently use reviews as a starting point. They should be written by authors considered experts on the subject. Therefore, the corresponding author of the review article must be one of the authors of at least three articles presented in “Reference” section. These articles critically evaluate previously-published material. The organization, combination of the previously-published material, and evaluation of this material provide an understanding of the progress of research in clarifying a problem. 

No new findings are reported in the review articles and in a particular subject, the information of the previous articles is collected; then this information is analyzed and categorized. With a critical point of view, comparison, and interpretation of the previous information, they offer a new interpretation to the reader. Review articles, like original articles, must have certain principles and order.

The main components of review articles are: Title, Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Dicussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgement, References.

The number of words used in review articles is 5000. The number of references used for review articles is 100.

• Brief communication

These papers communicate brief reports of data from original research that editors believe will be interesting to many researchers, and that will likely stimulate further research in the field. In fact, short communications are brief reports of research works containing new findings.

This article contains all sections of an original article. The short communication consists of :

Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgements, References.

It is a short research article and should be limited to 1500 words. The number of references used for short report articles is 12.

• Case report

These articles report specific instances of interesting phenomena. A goal of “Case Studies” is to make other researchers aware of the possibility that a specific phenomenon might occur. This type of study is often used in medicine to report the occurrence of previously unknown or emerging pathologies. It is a detailed report of an individual patient that may represent a previously non-described condition and contains new information about different aspects of a disease.

Case report studies examine a particular case, a particular subject, and a particular phenomenon. A large sample size is not required. These studies discuss a symptom of a disease, a description of an unusual event in the course of the disease, and the unreported side effects of medications or treatments.

The structure of these articles are:

Title, Authors, Abstract, Introduction, Case Introduction, Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgements, References.

It should be less than 2000 words. The number of references used for the case report articles is 5.

• Letter to the editor

Correspondence with an editor in order to provide a personal point of view on a research topic or article with the aim of being published in a journal is collectively classified as “Letters” or “Communications”. You may want to provide correction, critique, clarification, or additional information about an article, you may disagree with the interpretation of the results, you may want to inform the readers of the same interpretation with your new suggestions, or you may want a socio-ethical or ethical perspective. Make your policy about a medical article. In such cases, we use the letter to the editor.

Structure of writing a letter to the editor:

Statement of subject: In the first paragraph, indicate what you want to comment on.

Agreement or disagreement: Then express your agreement or disagreement in a simple and short sentence.

Providing evidence: Then it is time to present the evidence on which you prove your claim.

The final result: In the last paragraph, while clarifying your intention and purpose under the title of closing remark, you clearly express your personal opinion in order to determine the task of the reader.

The number of words must be less than 400 words in all cases. The number of references used for this article is 5.

• Other types of articles only could be submitted by Chronic Diseases Journal Editorial Board.

Instructions for preparing an initial manuscript

In appropriate places in the manuscript, please provide the following items:

• If applicable, a statement that the research protocol was approved by the relevant institutional review boards or ethics committees and that all human participants gave written informed consent
• The source of funding for the study
• The identity of those who analyzed the data
• Financial disclosure, or a statement that none is necessary

Format and style of main manuscript

• Please supply a word count in title page.
• Use normal page margins (2.5 cm), and double-space throughout.
• Prepare your manuscript text using a Word processing package using Times New Roman 12 font, (save in .doc or .rtf format).

Tables

• All tables are numbered consecutively in the order of their initial citation in the text.
• Use Times New Roman with font size 10 pt for the visual element caption.
• Use Times New Roman for tables content:
• o Table Contents Font Size: 10 pt
• o Table Heading Font Size: 10 pt
• Refer to tables in your text by their numbers, not their placement in the text.
• Try to ensure that tables are not broken over two pages. Tables that require a full page might be best put in an appendix.
• Table captions must be placed above the tables. The captions should be aligning to the left.
• Table are numbered sequentially, but separately.
• If the table that you present in your report was not created by you, but comes from other sources, you must include a reference for the original source in your caption.
• Be sure that the table is mentioned in the text. Refer to the caption number within the body text and discuss its content.
• In tables, do not use commas in place of decimal points.
• Set the table direction (not text direction) to be displayed left to right.
• Make sure the font style, font size, and casing match between all of tables.

Figures

• All are numbered consecutively in the order of their initial citation in the text. So, give each visual a numbered caption that includes a clear descriptive title.
• For all figure elements, including letters, numbers, and symbols, Times New Roman must be used.
• Figure captions are generally placed below the figures.
• Figures are numbered sequentially, but separately.
• All figures are preferred to be provided in Excel format.
• Figures should be no larger than 125 (height) × 180 (width) mm (5 × 7 inches) and should be submitted in a separate file from that of the manuscript.
• The name of image or figure files should be the same as the order that was used in manuscript (Figure 1, Figure 2, etc.).
• Only JPEG, tif, gif and eps image formats are acceptable with CMYK model for colored image at a resolution of at least 300 dpi.
• Graphs must have the minimum quality: clear text, proportionate, not 3-dimensional and without disharmonic language.
• Electron photomicrographs should have internal scale markers.
• If photographs of patients are used, either the subjects should not be identifiable or the photographs should be accompanied by written permission to use them. Permission forms are available from the Editorial Office.
• Medical and scientific illustrations will be created or recreated in-house. If an outside illustrator creates the figure, the Chronic Diseases Journal reserves the right to modify or redraw it to meet our specifications for publication. The author must explicitly acquire all rights to the illustration from the artist in order for us to publish the illustration. Legends for figures should be an editable text as caption and should not appear on the figures.

The information below details the section headings that you should include in your manuscript and what information should be within each section.

Article structure

This manuscripts should be divided into the following sections: (1) Title page, (2) Abstract and Keywords, (3) Introduction, (4) Methods, (5) Results, (6) Discussion, (7) Acknowledgements, (8) Conflict of Interests (9), Acknowledgements (10), References.

Title page

• Title: Effective titles in academic research papers have several characteristics:
• Indicate accurately the subject and scope of the study.
• Titles should be concise and descriptive and informative (not declarative).
• Avoid using abbreviation because short titles or abbreviations, formulas, acronyms, and new words make access to that article very poor when searched by other researchers.
• Use words that create a positive impression and stimulate reader interest.
• Use current nomenclature from the field of study.
• Identify key variables, both dependent and independent (in experimental studies).
• Suggest a relationship between variables which supports the major hypothesis.
• It is limited to 10 to 15 substantive words.
• Do not include "study of," "analysis of", or similar constructions.
• Sometimes you can use two dots (:) to add as much information as an article. For example, (Brain activation during perception of face-like stimuli: A fMRI study)
• Use correct grammar and capitalization with all first words and last words capitalized, including the first word of a subtitle. All nouns, pronouns, verbs, adjectives, and adverbs that appear between the first and last words of the title are also capitalized.
• Place the title three or four lines down from the top of the paper.
• Use relevant keywords.
• If your research is descriptive, the time and place of the study will be provided, but this is not necessary for other types of research.
• Title page should include an abbreviated running title of 40 characters (3 or 4 words) and should be written in capital letters.
• Authors’ names and affiliations: Title page should include the names of the authors, including the complete first name. Please clearly indicate the given name(s) and family name(s) of each author and check that all names are accurately spelled and present the authors' affiliation addresses (where the actual work was done) below the names. No more than two graduate degrees, the name of the department and institution in which the work was done, and the institutional affiliation of each author should be provided.
• Corresponding author: Clearly indicate who will handle correspondence at all stages of refereeing and publication, also post-publication. This responsibility includes answering any future queries about methodology and materials. The name, post address, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address of the corresponding author should be separately addressed.

Any grant support that requires acknowledgment should be mentioned on this page. Word count of abstract and main text as well as number of tables and figures and references should be mentioned on title page. If the work was derived from a project or dissertation, its code should also be stated.

Affiliation model: Academic Degree, Department, Institute, City, Country. The name, post address, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address of the corresponding author should be separately addressed.

Example: Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran

Abstract

The abstract should state briefly the purpose of the research, the principal results, and major conclusions. Please minimize the use of abbreviations and do not cite references in the abstract. A concise and factual abstract is required (250 words). an abstract is often presented separately from the article, so it must be able to stand alone. This abstract should consist of four paragraphs and must include the following separate sections:

• Background: The context and purpose of the study and it should briefly describe the problem being addressed in the study.
• Methods: How the study was performed and statistical tests used.
• Results: The main findings.
• Conclusion: Brief summary, potential implications, and salient results and what the authors conclude from the results.

Keywords

Immediately after the abstract, three to ten keywords representing the main content of the article. Keywords are preferred to be in accordance with Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/meshterms) These keywords will be used for indexing purpose.

Introduction

The overarching goal of your introduction is to make your readers want to read your paper. The introduction should grab your reader's attention.

There are 5 steps to writing an article:

• Background and scope of research
• Literature review
• Why study and why is it important to study?
• Important aspect of the research, including the purpose of the research
• The overall purpose of the research

Think of the structure of the introduction as an inverted triangle of information. Organize the information so as to present the more general aspects of the topic early in the introduction, then narrow toward the more specific topical information that provides context, finally arriving at your statement of purpose and rationale and, whenever possible, the potential outcomes your study can reveal. Background information identifies and describes the history and nature of a well-defined research problem with reference to the existing literature. Background information in your “Introduction” should indicate the root of the problem being studied, its scope, and the extent to which previous studies have successfully investigated the problem, noting, in particular, where gaps exist that your study attempts to address. 

Methods

The methods section of a research paper provides the information by which a study’s validity is judged. The method section answers two main questions: How was the data collected or generated? How was it analyzed? The writing should be direct and precise and written in the past tense.

The methods section should include:

• The aim, design, and setting of the study. Readers need to know how the data were obtained, because the method you choose affects the results and, by extension, how you likely interpreted those results.
• Type of study
• Research environment
• Sample size with inclusion and exclusion criteria
• The characteristics of participants (age, gender, education, …)
• Information and data collection process (working method)
• Data analysis and a clear description of all processes, interventions, and comparisons
• The type of statistical analysis used, including a power calculation if appropriate
• Generic drug names should generally be used. When proprietary brands are used in research, include the brand names in parentheses (***Generic names should generally be used except for studies on comparative effects of different brands. When proprietary brands are used in research, include the brand name and the name of the manufacturer in parentheses in the “Methods” section).**

Study design  

We strongly advise authors to design their clinical trial studies based on the appropriate guidelines. In randomized controlled trials, CONSORT guideline (http://www.consort-statement.org), in systematic reviews and meta-analyses, PRISMA (formally QUOROM) guideline (http://www.prisma-statement.org), in studies of diagnostic accuracy, in observational studies in epidemiology, STROBE guideline (https://www.strobe-statement.org/index.php?id=strobe-home) should be used.

Reporting Guidelines for Specific Study Designs

Style format articles 

Ethical considerations

Articles concerning proposed research will usually be considered for publication without peer review if the study has received ethics approval, and undergone peer review and been awarded a grant from a major funding body. Proof of both ethics and funding will be required and authors should submit the relevant documentation via the online system at submission. Study protocols without major external funding or ethics approval will generally not be considered.

Ethics for animal experimentation

Ethical approval for the work needs to be obtained from the Institution’s Animal Ethics Committee (must be local to where the research took place). If such a committee does not exist, you must comply with institutional, national, and international guidelines.

Ethics for human participants

Similar to work involving animals, all works involving human participants must be approved by a local Ethics Committee.

All work involving humans subjects, human material, or human data must also be performed in accordance with the Helsinkiwhich was developed by the World Medical Association outlining the minimum ethical standards for research on human participants. All manuscripts which feature human participants or human data must contain a statement on ethics, including the name of the Ethics Committee which approved the study and the reference number. Any exemptions, granted by the Ethics Committee, must also be detailed in the manuscript.

If your study involves humans, in anyway, you need to get their informed consent before you start the study. Informed consent is the permission granted in full knowledge of the possible consequences, typically that which is given by a patient to a doctor for treatment with knowledge of the possible risks and benefits.

Informed consent, ideally, should be written (signed form from each participant), but in some instances, verbal consent is permissible, for example, in illiterate participants. The type of consent received should be agreed upon with the Ethics Committee.

Consent for the publication of identifiable data

Informed consent is required to include any images or identifiable details.

Plagiarism and self-plagiarism

Any manuscript submitted must be original and the manuscript, or substantial parts of it, must not be under consideration by any other journal.

In any case where there is the potential for overlap or duplication, we require that authors are transparent. Authors should declare any potentially overlapping publications on submission., provided that there is agreement from the original journal/publisher no breach of copyright, and the original publication is cited.

Authors should be aware that replication of text from their own previous publications is text recycling (also referred to as self-plagiarism), and in some cases is considered unacceptable.

Where overlap of text with authors’ own publications is necessary or unavoidable, duplication must always be reported transparently and be properly attributed and compliant with copyright requirements.

For the types of clinical trials that are judged and accepted in the journal, in addition to the code of ethics, the code of registration in the Iranian Registry of Clinical Trials (IRCT) and the status in any international trial registry approved by the World Health Organization (WHO) recovery is a must.

These studies must be retrievable on the ICTRP Search Portal.

Results

This should include the findings of the study including, if appropriate, results of statistical analysis which must be included either in the text or as tables and figures. In fact, in this section, numbers, figures, tables, and diagrams answer the main purpose of the research, which is discussed in the introduction.

Do not overuse non-textual elements. Include them sparingly and only in cases where they are an effective means for enhancing and/or supplementing information already described in your paper. Using too many non-textual elements disrupts the narrative flow of your paper, making it more difficult for the reader to synthesize and interpret your overall research. If you have to use a lot, consider organizing them in an appendix.

Discussion

In this section, the researcher discusses important research findings.

Items to be discussed in this section include:

• Summarize the important findings that the researcher makes.
• Summary of the results of other researchers who disagree with the results of the research. Then the researcher must argue about these discrepancies.
• Summarize the results of other researchers that are in line with the research results.
• The clinical significance of the findings is discussed. This section should discuss the implications of the findings in context of existing research.
• The weaknesses of the research and highlight limitations of the study and their impact on the research results are discussed. Limitations of the study are those characteristics of design or methodology that impacted or influenced the application or interpretation of the results of your study.

Always acknowledge a study's limitations; acknowledgement of a study's limitations is an opportunity to make suggestions for further research.

Conclusion

This should state clearly the main conclusions and provide an explanation of the importance and relevance of the study reported. Conclusion section should be written in 5 to 6 lines.

Conflict of Interests

All financial and non-financial competing interests must be declared in this section.

Authors of research articles should disclose at the time of submission any financial arrangement they may have with a company whose product is pertinent to the submitted manuscript or with a company making a competing product. Such information will be held in confidence while the paper is under review and will not influence the editorial decision, but if the article is accepted for publication, a disclosure will appear with the article. Because the essence of reviews and editorials is selection and interpretation of the literature, the Chronic Diseases Journal expects that authors of such articles will not have any significant financial interest in a company (or its competitor) that makes a product discussed in the article.

Acknowledgements

This includes acknowledgment of people, grants, funds, etc. Authors should obtain permission to acknowledge from all those mentioned in the “Acknowledgements” section. It should be placed in a separate section before the reference list. The names of funding organizations should be written in full. Financial support affiliation of the study, if exists, must be mentioned in this section. Thereby, the grant number of financial support must be included.

References

The Vancouver style of referencing should be used. References must be double-spaced and numbered as superscripts consecutively as they are cited. References first cited in a table or figure legend should be numbered, so that they will be in sequence with references cited in the text at the point where the table or figure is first mentioned.

In-text citations in the body of a paper

In the Vancouver style, you assign a number to each reference within the text as you cite it. The citations are identified by Arabic numbers in superscript. The number must be used even if the author(s) is named in the text.

• Example: In his study, Babbott¹¹ found that….

New sources are numbered consecutively as they occur in the text. If a source is repeated, so is the number originally assigned to it.

When multiple references are cited at the same place in the text, use commas without spaces to separate non-inclusive numbers.

• Example: Multiple studies have indicated….^1,3,9,16

If multiple references cited at the same place in the text are inclusive, use a hyphen to join the first and last numbers.

• Example: Multiple studies have indicated that….^7-10

Placement of the citation numbers is generally at the end of the sentence, unless there are two individual sets of citations in each sentence. Generally, reference numbers should be placed outside of periods and commas, inside of colons and semicolons.

One citation or one set of citations in one sentence

The design of the FHS Daily Trial has been described previously.¹⁶

We assessed infarct size by cMRI, which strongly correlates with subsequent mortality.^4,20,21

Two individual citations or more than one set of citations in one sentence

There have been efforts to replace mouse inoculation testing with in vitro tests, such as enzyme linked immunosorbent assays^57,60 or polymerase chain reaction;^20-22 however, these remain experimental.

Lack of reimbursement remains the single greatest obstacle to more widespread adoption of collaborative care,⁹⁸ and we must continue to develop better funding mechanisms to capture its added value.^99,100

Reference list

• Your reference list should appear at the end of your paper with the entries numbered consecutively and in the order in which they were cited in your paper. Give the number without any parentheses. Punctuation marks and spaces are very important.
• Head your page “References” and set it flush with the left margin.
• Type the appropriate number for the source, followed by a period and 2-3 spaces and then, begin typing the citation. The text of the second and subsequent lines of each citation should align with the text of the first line.
• Begin a new line for each numbered reference. Do not skip lines between references.
• Use Times New Roman with font size 11 pt for the references.
• The number of references for original articles is only a maximum of 25 (if it is more than this number, remove the reference and bring it to 25). Up to 100 references are acceptable for review article. Only 12 references are for short report articles, and up to 5 references for case report articles, letters to the editor, and medical images are acceptable.
• Note that 50% of the references must be related to the last 5 years. If not, please correct it.

Authors’ name

• List names in the citation in the order they appear in the text.
• List all authors, but if the number exceeds six, give the first six followed by "et al."

Reference type

Journal articles

Standard format for print journal article:     

Author(s) of article. Title of article. Abbreviated Title of Journal. Date of publication; vol(issue): page number(s).

Examples:

Lateh H, Muniandy P. Environmental education (EE): Current situational and the challenges among trainee teachers at teachers training institute in Malaysia. Procedia Soc. Behav. Sci. 2010; 2(2): 1896-900.

Online journal articles

Standard format for online journal article:

Author(s) of article. Title of article. Abbreviated Title of Journal [journal on the Internet]. Date of publication [Date of update/revision; date of citation]; vol(issue): page number(s)/extent. Available from:

Examples:

Groene O. Implementing health promotion in hospitals: Manual and self-assessment forms [Online]. [cited 2006]; Available from: URL: https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0009/99819/E88584.pdf (Web Page or Online)

Book

Standard format for citation to whole book:

Author(s) of book. Title of book. Edition (if other than first). Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication.

Examples:

Khani MR, Yaghmaeyan K, Hojati M. Wastewater engineering (treatment and reuse). Tehran, Iran: Khaniran Publications; 2011. [In Persian]. (Book)

Book chapter

Standard format for a chapter by the book author :

Author(s) of book. Title of book. Edition. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of publication. Chapter number: Chapter title; inclusive pagination.

Examples:

Brinkmeyer M, Eyberg SM. Parent-Child Interaction Therapy for oppositional children. In: Kazdin AE, Kazdin AE, Weisz JR, Editors. Evidence-based psychotherapies for children and adolescents. New York, NY: Guilford Publications; 2003. (Book chapter)

Conference proceedings

Standard format for print conference proceedings:

Editor(s), ed(s). Title of conference: Subtitle of conference; Year Month Date of Conference; Location of Conference. Place of publication: Publisher; Year of Publication.

Example:

Alizadeh Attar H. Study of level anxiety, depression and quality of life in mothers of children with autism spectrum disorders referred to child and adolescent psychiatric clinic of Shafa Medical Education Center in 2010. Proceedings of the 6^th International Congress on Child and Adolescent Psychiatry; 2013 Sep. 17-19; Tabriz, Iran. [In Persian]. (Conference)

Abbreviations

Except for units of measurement, abbreviations are discouraged. Consult Scientific Style and Format: The CBE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers (Sixth edition. New York: Cambridge University Press, 1994) is used for lists of standard abbreviations. Except for units of measurement, the first time an abbreviation appears, it should be preceded by the words for which it stands.

Units of measurement

Authors should express all measurements in conventional units, with Système International (SI) units given in parentheses throughout the text. Figures and tables should use conventional units, with conversion factors given in legends or footnotes. In accordance with the Uniform Requirements, however, manuscripts containing only SI units will not be returned for that reason.

Submission

• Only online submission is acceptable. Please submit online at: http://cdjournal.muk.ac.ir
• This manuscript should be divided into the following sections: (1) Title page, (2) Abstract and Keywords, (3) Introduction, (4) Methods, (5) Results, (6) Discussion, (7) Acknowledgements, (8) References, (9) Figure legends, (10) Appendices, (11) Tables, and (12) Figures (figures should be submitted in separate files).
• Please supply a word count in title page.
• Use normal page margins (2.5 cm), and double-space throughout.
• Prepare your manuscript text using a Word processing package using Times New Roman 12 font, (save in .doc or .rtf format).
• Submissions of text in the form of PDF files are not permitted.
• The Supplementary Material should be submitted as a single separate file in .docx or PDF format.

Important note: While submitting your manuscript, please bear in mind to upload the ORCID ID for all authors, AND the Authorship Form as well (this form must be completed by corresponding author and signed by all authors).

Review and action

Submitted papers will be examined for the evidence of plagiarism using some automated plagiarism detection service. Manuscripts are examined by members of the editorial staff, and two thirds are sent to external reviewers. We encourage authors to suggest the names of possible reviewers, but we reserve the right of final selection. Communications about manuscripts will be sent after the review and editorial decision-making process is complete. After acceptance, editorial system makes a final language and scientific edition. No substantial change is permitted by authors after acceptance. It is the responsibility of corresponding author to answer probable questions and approve final version.

Copyright

Chronic Diseases Journal is the owner of all copyright to any original work published by the Chronic Diseases Journal. Authors agree to execute copyright transfer forms as requested with respect to their contributions accepted by the Journal. The Chronic Diseases Journal have the right to use, reproduce, transmit, derive works from, publish, and distribute the contribution, in the Journal or otherwise, in any form or medium. Authors will not use or authorize the use of the contribution without the written consent of Journal Office.

Fees and funding

Journal is without publication/processing fee. The author does not have to pay any charges for submission or publishing in the journal. In this journal, publication was in the electronic open access model.

Cover letter

A covering letter signed by all authors should identify the corresponding author (including the address, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address). Please make clear that the final manuscript has been seen and approved by all authors, and that the authors accepted full responsibility for the design and conduct of the study, had access to the data, and controlled the decision to publish.

Authorship form

Your article will not be published unless you warrant that “This article is an original work, has not been published before, and is not being considered for publication elsewhere in its final form either in printed or electronic form”. As stated in the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (link), credit for authorship requires substantial contributions to:

• Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work
• Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content
• Final approval of the version to be published
• 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. Each author must sign authorship form attesting that he or she fulfills the authorship criteria. There should be a statement in manuscript explaining contribution of each author to the work. Acknowledgments will be limited to one page of Chronic Diseases Journal space, and those acknowledged will be listed only once.

Any change in authorship after submission must be approved in writing by all authors. 

Authorship form

Title of the manuscript:

We, the undersigned, certify that we take responsibility for the conduct of this study and for the analysis and interpretation of the data. We wrote this manuscript and are responsible for the decisions about it. Each of us meets the definition of an author as stated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (see http://www.icmje.org/icmje-recommendations.pdf). We have seen and approved the final manuscript. Neither the article nor any essential part of it, including tables and figures, will be published or submitted elsewhere before appearing in the Chronic Diseases Journal. [All authors must sign this form or an equivalent letter.]

Name of Author                  Signature