Pain Practice

Published on behalf of the World Institute of Pain

Edited by:
Craig T. Hartrick

Print ISSN: 1530-7085
Online ISSN: 1533-2500
Frequency: Bi-monthly
Current Volume: 9 / 2009

TopAuthor Guidelines

PAIN PRACTICE
INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

Manuscripts submitted to Pain Practice should be prepared according to guidelines established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (see 'Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication' available at: http://www.icmje.org/) as well as the following instructions and submitted online at: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ppr

Questions concerning manuscript submission should be directed to:

Craig T. Hartrick, MD
Editor-in-Chief, Pain Practice
chartrick@beaumont.edu

Manuscripts should be submitted electronically and accompanied by a cover letter indicating that the material, in whole or part, has not been previously published and is not currently under consideration for publication in another journal. Microsoft Word for Windows (PC version) is the preferred format. An 'Authors Checklist' (Author Checklist at: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/AuthorCklst.pdf) must be completed detailing each author's contribution and all potential conflicts of interest. Please note that Word 2007 is not yet compatible with journal production systems. Unfortunately, the journal cannot accept Microsoft Word 2007 documents until such time as a stable production version is released. Therefore, please use Word's "Save As" option to save your document as an older (.doc) file type.

Authors Responsibilities

1. All authors must: a) have made significant scientific contribution to the work, b) be familiar with the content, and c) be willing to take responsibility for the completeness and accuracy of the content. If authorship is attributed to a group, all members of the group must meet the full criteria and requirements for authorship as described above (Authorship at: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/Authorship.pdf).

2. All potential conflicts of interest relating to the manuscript content, preparation, and funding must be disclosed (Conflict of Interest at: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/Conflict-of-Interest.pdf).

3. Authors presenting work involving human experimentation must: a) adhere to Good Clinical Practice guidelines as outlined by the International Conference on Harmonisation (http://www.ich.org), b) where relevant, provide evidence of investigation specific informed consent, and c) state in the Methods section that the study was approved by an Investigational Review Board (Informed Consent at: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/ppr-5_2_p73.pdf)

4. Authors presenting work involving animal experimentation must: a) adhere to the guidelines of the International Association for the Study of Pain(Zimmerman, M: Ethical guidelines for investigations of experimental pain in conscious animals. Pain 1983;16:109-110), and b) state in the Methods section that the study was approved by an Animal Care Committee (http://www.iacuc.org).

5. Authors will be required to sign an Exclusive License Form (ELF). The ELF allows authors to retain copyright to their work while granting the publisher an exclusive license to publish the article in print and online, to administer rights, and to follow up on any infringements of copyright. Please submit a completed, signed Exclusive License Form when submitting an article for publication (Electronic License Form at: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/PPR_ELF.pdf). Manuscripts will only be sent to the publisher for production after receipt of a properly executed ELF.

6. The Editors encourage investigators to register their clinical trials in one of the public trials registries, such as the International Standard Randomized Controlled Trial Number (ISRCTN) register (http://www.controlled-trials.com/isrctn/) or ClinicalTrials.gov run by the National Library of Medicine (http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/). The service is available without charge. Randomized, controlled trials involving medical interventions beginning enrollment after May 15, 2006 should be fully registered in one of the public registries before enrollment of the first patient to be considered for publication. Well-controlled, registered studies, including those with negative results, are especially encouraged. CONSORT
(http://www.consort-statement.org) or, if a diagnostic study is being reported, STARD (http://www.consort-statement.org/Initiatives/newstard.htm), diagrams should be included where appropriate. Authors submitting Observational Studies should follow the STROBE guidelines (STrengthening the Reporting of Observational studies in Epidemiology; http://www.strobe-statement.org/).

Author Material Archive Policy

Please note that unless specifically requested, Blackwell Publishing will dispose of all electronic material submitted two months after publication. If you require the return of any material submitted, please inform the Editorial Office or Production Editor as soon as possible. Authors are encouraged to provide digital archiving to preserve internet citations when cited in the References section using a service such as that available at: www.FURL.net

English-language Editing Services
Authors for whom English is a second language may choose to have their manuscript professionally edited before submission or during the review process. Authors wishing to pursue a professional English-language editing service should make contact and arrange payment with the editing service of their choice. For more details regarding the recommended services, please refer to http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/bauthor/english_language.asp.

Types of Articles

The following types of articles are published in Pain Practice:

1. Original Research: Typically original manuscripts should be 5,000 words or less;

2. Editorials: 3,000 words or less;

3. Review articles: 15,000 words or less;

4. Tutorials, not to exceed 20,000 words;

5. Clinical case conference articles: 15,000 words or less;

6. Medical-legal, Practice Management, and History of Pain articles: 10,000 words or less;

7. Case Reports: Typically 3,000 words or less;

8. Announcements, not to exceed 250 words;

9. Letters to the editor, not to exceed 500 words;

10. Career opportunities, not to exceed 150 words.

Manuscript Format

Manuscripts should be submitted in English and typed double spaced. Allow adequate margins and number all pages consecutively. Manuscripts should consist of a title page, text, acknowledgments, references, tables, legends, and figures, arranged in that order. Online submissions must be prepared in a blinded fashion.

Title Page

The title page should include:

1. The full title of the article;

2. The first name, middle initial, and last name of each author, along with the highest academic degree(s) of each;

3. The name, address, and telephone number of the author responsible for correspondence about the manuscript;

4. The name and address of the author to whom requests for reprints should be addressed, or a statement to the effect that reprints will not be available from the author.

Text

In the text, measurements of distance/length and weight should be expressed in metric units. Only standard abbreviations should be used throughout an article, with unusual abbreviations spelled out the first time they appear in text, followed in parentheses by the abbreviation. Consult the latest editions of the Council of Biology Editors Style Manual or the AMA Manual of Style for current usage. Specify drugs by generic name(s), giving dosage(s), and route (s) of administration. If a brand name is used, insert it in parentheses after the generic name.

Acknowledgments

Individuals who satisfy only one or two of the three authorship criteria (Authorship at: http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/Authorship.pdf) should be recognized in the Acknowledgment section of the manuscript. All financial and material support should also be disclosed in the Acknowledgment section. The roles of each sponsor in data acquisition and the decision to publish the data must be reported.

References

References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first cited in the text, using Index Medicus abbreviations. Only references to books and articles or abstracts published in peer-reviewed journals should be cited. Personal communications and unpublished data should be cited only in the text and left unnumbered. For journal articles, the names of all authors should be given unless there are more than 6, in which case the names of the first 3 authors are used, followed by 'et al.' References should adhere to the style shown in the following examples (see AMA Manual of Style):

For standard journal articles
6 authors:
Restall J, Tully AM, Warf PJ, Smith RH, Reidy GH, Greeco DL.
Total intravenous anesthesia for military surgery. A technique
using ketamine, midazolam and veruonium. Anaesth. 1988;
43:46-50.

More than 6 authors:
Campbell S, Salamone L, Coleman P, et al. Phantom tooth pain.
Reg Anesth Pain Med. 1999;24:75-80.

For books:
Leriche R. Surgery of Pain. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins;
1939:889-898.

Tables

Tables should supplement, but not duplicate, text and should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals in their order of appearance. Each table should have a title. Tables should be double spaced, each on a separate sheet. Explanatory matter should be footnoted. Data used from another published or unpublished source should be fully acknowledged, and permission for reproduction of previously published material should be obtained from the author and publisher. Do not number pages on which tables appear.

Figures

Submit written permission from publisher(s) for any figure that has been published previously. Do not send original artwork, radiographs, or electrocardiograms. Photographs in which a patient or other person is identifiable must be accompanied by written permission from the individual. The release must state that the individual has consented to be photographed, waives right of approval, and assigns copyright to the authors. Photomicrographs must have internal scale markers. Symbols, arrows, or letters used in photomicrographs should contrast with the background. Figures should be cited in consecutive order in text and numbered with Arabic numerals.

Color figures that significantly enhance the article will be considered for publication. Part of the reproduction and printing costs will be paid for by Pain Practice. The author must be prepared to pay a per page charge of $800.

Submission of Electronic Art

Because of the wide range of graphics programs in use, it is impossible to accommodate all of them. If a digital art file is submitted with the revised version of an accepted manuscript, there is no guarantee that it will be useable and therefore it must be accompanied by the highest quality output available to be used as camera copy and/or comparison for output.

The primary criteria for useable files are as follows:

There are three preferred formats for digital artwork submission: Encapsulated PostScript (EPS), Portable Document Format (PDF), and Tagged Image Format (TIFF). We suggest that line art be saved as EPS files. Alternately, these may be saved as PDF files at 600 dots per inch (dpi) or better at final size. Tone art, or photographic images, should be saved as TIFF files with a resolution of 300 dpi at final size. For combination figures, or artwork that contains both photographs and labeling, we recommend saving figures as EPS files, or as PDF files with a resolution of 600 dpi or better at final size. More detailed information on the submission of electronic artwork can be found at www.blackwellpublishing.com/authors/digill.asp.

Legends

Legends for illustrations should be typed double spaced in a separate file and submitted with the manuscript. Symbols, arrows, numbers, or letters used to identify parts of figures should be identified and explained clearly in the legends.

Exclusive License Form (ELF)

Completed and signed Exclusive License Forms (ELF) should be scanned and included with the submission as a Supplementary File through Manuscript Central. Alternatively these forms may be sent by email (chartrick@beaumont.edu) or fax (248-334-5952). Manuscripts will not be sent for peer-review until a signed ELF is received.

ELF

http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/PPR_ELF.pdf

Informed Consent

http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/ppr-5_2_p73.pdf

Author Checklist

http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/AuthorCklst.pdf

Authorship

http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/Authorship.pdf

Conflict of Interest

http://www.blackwellpublishing.com/pdf/Conflict-of-Interest.pdf

NEW: Online production tracking is now available for your article through Blackwell's Author Services.
Author Services enables authors to track their article - once it has been accepted - through the production process to publication online and in print. Authors can check the status of their articles online and choose to receive automated e-mails at key stages of production so they don't need to contact the production editor to check on progress. Visit www.blackwellpublishing.com/bauthor for more details on online production tracking and for a wealth of resources including FAQs and tips on article preparation, submission and more.