Author Guidelines

How to Publish in the Journal Internal Medicine

A. Journal sections

Original Paper

A scientific presentation of the issue studied. It typically comprises the following: introduction, material (or patients) and methods, results, discussion, and conclusion. Articles in this section are intended to be published in the form of an e-publication. A maximum of 15 standard pages.

Review Article

A concise overview of a topic, with the author’s own experience not constituting the main content of the article. The latest knowledge on aetiology, pathogenesis, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases and groups of diseases. The article is to be written with an emphasis on its practical use by internists. A maximum of 13 standard pages.

Case Report

A report of a rare case of a certain disease, its unusual course, clinical presentation, etc., that has been meticulously examined and presented. A case report typically includes an introduction, case presentation, and discussion. A maximum of 13 standard pages.

Pharmacological Profile

Information on a particular drug. Article structure in the section: classification into a drug group, chemical structure, mechanism of action, indications, contraindications, adverse effects, dosage, and interactions. The maximum length of the manuscript is 6 pages. A maximum of 13 standard pages.

Good Advice

The purpose of this section is to provide quick and practical advice by answering a particular question in a brief and comprehensible way. A maximum of 10 standard pages.

In Brief

Diagnosis and treatment presented in tables and diagrams with an emphasis on the clarity and practical use of the information. The maximum length of the manuscript is 6 pages. A maximum of 10 standard pages.

Differential Diagnosis Column or What you can be asked at a postgraduate certification exam

A brief characteristic of a symptom or a laboratory finding with the indication of its differential diagnosis, or a comprehensive look at a topic related to internal medicine offering an interdisciplinary perspective. A maximum of 13 standard pages.

Commentaries

A short text aimed at responding to recently published papers on a specific topic. A maximum of 3 standard pages.

From the Society

Information on significant life anniversaries of our leading internists, or on their deaths. Photographs reproduced under conditions specified below. A maximum of 3 standard pages.

Meeting Reports

Clear and concise information presented by direct event participants. A maximum of 3 standard pages.

Letters to the Editor

Commentaries responding in a factual and concise manner to a recently published article and presenting identical, additional, or differing opinions of the author. A maximum of 3 standard pages.

News About Books

Reviews of newly published books in the field of internal medicine. The review header must include: the book title, the author’s name, the place of publication, the name of the publishing house, the year of publication, the number of pages, the print run of the book, the price, and ISBN. A maximum of 3 standard pages.

Editorial

A commentary of an expert in the particular field, chosen by the editorial board, on works (original papers as well as case reports or review articles) published in the respective issue of Internal Medicine, with the author commenting on a relevant original paper while making a comparison with similar papers in other publications. The commentary is solely the author’s personal stance which may not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial board. It should be the author’s independent opinion with broader views of the issue in question. The number of references cited should not (but may) exceed 10; supplementation with tables or graphs is possible. The maximum length is 6 standard pages.

B. How to prepare a manuscript and appendices

1. Manuscript submission

Manuscripts, including appendices (see below for details), should be submitted in electronic form by e-mail to the editorial office: Mgr. Kateřina Dostálová at dostalova@solen.cz
each manuscript must contain a statement of originality of the paper and appendices (in the case of artwork being adopted from another publication, a permission of the copyright-holder is required) and a statement that the paper has not been published previously or is not being simultaneously submitted elsewhere, except in the form of a conference abstract and guidelines

2. Languages of publication

Czech, Slovak, and English (articles in English are typically published as an e-publication)

3. Citation abbreviation

Vnitr Lek

4. Technical specifications of the manuscript

the text should be submitted in electronic form as a separate MS Office Word file (doc or docx; Windows operating system)
only use Times New Roman, font size 12; do not use styles (use Normal style for the whole text); only use bold, italics or underlined text for emphasis;
appendices (tables, figures, graphs, and charts) and their name(s) should be submitted in separate file(s) (see Point 13)

5. Article length (including references)

Here, the length of the text itself, i.e. without appendices, is given, counted in characters including spaces (for guidance, also in standard pages, with 1 standard page equal to 1,800 characters including spaces):

original paper – a maximum of 15 standard pages (i.e., a maximum of 27,000 characters)

review article/case report/pharmacological profile/differential diagnosis column – a maximum of 13 standard pages (i.e., a maximum of 23,400 characters)

editorial – a maximum of 6 standard pages (i.e., a maximum of 10,800 characters including spaces)

good advice/in brief – a maximum of 10 standard pages (i.e., a maximum of 18,000 characters including spaces)

other (communication, personal communication, review, and the like) – a maximum of 3 standard pages (i.e., a maximum of 6,000 characters including spaces)

6. Article title

should be clear and concise (a maximum of 60 characters including spaces) and include no abbreviations

7. Author details

full first names and surnames and affiliations (both institutional and departmental) for all authors are required
include titles, scientific and academic degrees, and e-mail address for the corresponding author (plus a telephone number for purposes of contact by the editorial office; preferably GSM)

8. Article summary (abstract)

with the length counted in characters including spaces

original paper – from at least 1,000 up to 2,000 characters, structured as follows:

Purpose: one to two sentences characterizing the current state of the issue and aim of the work.
Patients (material) and methods: characteristics of the cohort studied and the methods used.
Results: the most important results, expressed numerically, with an indication of statistical significance.
Conclusion: what the study implies.

review article/case report – from at least 800 up to 1,200 characters

9. Keywords

listed in alphabetical order

10. Use of abbreviations

abbreviations should be defined at first mention in the text

11. References

no more than 20 references, particularly recent ones (within the last 5 years), in accordance with the examples shown below
individual items in the reference list should be numbered consecutively and listed in the order in which they are cited in the text
identify references cited in the text by using numerals in round brackets with no space between the comma and numbers as follows (1,3,11–13)

12. Examples of references

periodical publications

Reference structure:

Author(s) of the work [up to 3 authors, followed by et al]. Surname First name initial. Article title. International journal title abbreviation year of publication; volume (issue and/or Suppl): page range

Example: Korzon-Burakowska A, Dziemidok P. Diabetic foot – the need for comprehensive multidisciplinary approach. Ann Agric Environ Med 2011; 18(2): 314-317.

non-periodical publications

Reference structure:

Author(s) of the monograph [up to 3, followed by] et al [for editor(s) (ed)]. Surname First name initial). Title (of the entire monograph or chapter). [In: Surname First name initial editor(s) and in brackets (ed/eds). Title of the entire monograph]. [Edition if other than first]. Publisher: place and year of publication. [: page range of the chapter]. ISBN.

Example: Drummond MF, Sculpher MJ, Torrance GW et al. Methods for the Economic Evaluation of Health Care Programmes. 3rd ed. Oxford University Press: Oxford (UK) 2005. ISBN 10 0198529457.

Fait V, Chrenko V, Gatěk J et al. Biopsie sentinelové uzliny u kožních nádorů. In: Neoral Č, Bohanes T (eds) et al. Biopsie sentinelové uzliny. Galén: Praha 2012: 35-56. ISBN 978–80–7262–882–7.

for electronic sources

Example: Causes of death statistics. Data from October 2013. Eurostat. Annotation. [cit. 2017–01–17]. Available at WWW: <http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu>.

Killu AM, Liang JJ, Jaffe AS. Erdheim-Chester disease with cardiac involvement successfully treated with anakinra. Int J Cardio 2013; 167(5): e115-e117. Available at DOI: <http://doi: 10.1016/j.ijcard.2013.04.057>.

13. Appendices (tables, charts, diagrams, black-and-white or colour pictures or images, device recordings)

should not be inserted in the (text in) MS Office Word Processor, but presented in separate source files which they were created in
textual references to respective appendices should appear in round brackets, e.g. (Table 1) or (Chart 1) or (Diagram 1) or (Fig. 1)
when non-authorial appendices are used, it is always required to provide consent of all persons (private or legal) who own the copyright; alternatively, data of the original can be used to create an authorial appendix with the following reference “adapted according to Drummond MF, Sculpher MJ, Torrance GW et al. Methods for the Economic Evaluation of Health Care Programmes. 3rd ed. Oxford University Press: Oxford (UK) 2005. ISBN 10 0198529457”, or “adapted according to [7]” with a full citation listed in the reference list

14. Tables, charts

should be generated in MS Office Excel or MS Office Word Processor in a table generation program (do not merge cells and do not insert bullet points, numerals, etc. within a single cell)
it is possible to submit charts already inserted in MS Office PowerPoint (charts in other formats cannot be printed and have to be created again)

15. Diagrams

should be created in a graphic editor or an image of the diagram should be submitted in JPG, JPEG, or TIF formats, or in the open PDF format in print resolution; see below

16. Photographs, device recordings, and pen-and-ink drawings

should be submitted in JPG, JPEG, TIF, or GIF formats in a resolution appropriate for printing (at least 300 dpi, a resolution of at least 1039 × 591 pixels (print size of 88 × 50 mm, i.e. a single column); image print size of 180 × 50 mm (2 columns) must have a resolution of 2126 × 591 pixels)

C. Errors to avoid before manuscript submission

1. failure to include full names of all authors of the text; missing titles/degrees of the first author

2. exceeding specified article length within a particular section

3. summary of an original paper lacking the desired structure (point 8 above)

4. an incorrect way of citing references (please, adhere to the uniform style of citing references according to the instructions in points 11 and 12)

5. unnecessary/incorrect text formatting – see point 4 above and the following:

use the ENTER key at the end of a paragraph, not at the end of every line
the article should be structured into shorter, well-arranged sections
differentiate thoroughly figures 1 and 0 from letters l and O
no space before punctuation marks, one space after
measures should be divided by a space from values, use SI units

6. artwork that is too low in resolution; a missing copyright owner’s consent in the case of non-authorial appendices