Advice on article submission for Leprosy Review

Articles submitted for publication in Leprosy Review should be mailed to the Editor at the following address: Diana Lockwood, LEPRA Health in Action, 28 Middleborough , Colchester , Essex CO1 1TG, UK, or submitted via email to the Editorial Office at IreneA@leprahealthinaction.org.

Contributors without access to email may send hard copies of their articles, supported by 3.5 inch floppy disk or CD ROM, to the address above. Articles not submitted on disk or via email may be subject to delay in publishing. All papers must be accompanied by a written statement that the material has not been published in its present form in any other scientific journal.

The names(s) of the author(s) and the place where the work has been carried out should be indicated clearly below the title of the article. Degrees and diplomas are not to be included.

Authors are requested to provide an email address or fax number for return of proofs. Proofs will only be sent by post in exceptional circumstances.

Format

The preferred format is Microsoft Word. All articles must be typed double spaced and with numbered pages. Hard copies must be typed on one side of A4 (297 x 210mm) with 4cm margins all round and must be supplied in triplicate. On a separate sheet, please give the title, short title (if applicable), name and postal address of the author and the name of the institution where the work was undertaken.

Original papers

These should contain original data on problems pertaining to leprosy. There is no word limit, but shorter, more focussed papers are more likely to be accepted.

Reviews

These may be on any aspect of leprosy and management of the disease and its consequences. They may up to 4,000 words long. They are usually commissioned by the Editorial Board. However, authors with a topic suitable for a review should contact the editor to discuss the suitability of a proposed review.

Case reports

Case reports are intended as preliminary publications on original observations. They should be no more than 1,000 words in length.

Letters

These may be up to 850 words long. They may contain original data that is not sufficient for an original paper. Letters discussing topics of interest should present their ideas with supporting data.

Format for original papers

These should have separate sections: Abstract, Introduction, Material & methods, Results and Discussion. The Abstract may be up to 250 words long and should contain the key data from the paper, structured under the following headings: Objectives, Design, Results, Conclusions. The manuscript file should include:

• Title: all manuscripts. This should reflect the content of the work and the location.
• Names, addresses, and positions of all authors plus email address for corresponding author: all manuscripts
• Copyright: all manuscripts
• A competing interest statement: all manuscripts. Either a statement in the manuscript describing the interests of all authors or a declaration ‘All authors declare that the answer to the questions on your competing interest form are all No and therefore have nothing to declare.
• Details of contributors, and the name of the guarantor
• Signed patient consent form. Publication of any personal information about a patient in Leprosy Review, for example in a case report or clinical photograph, will normally require the signed consent of the patient.
• Details of ethics approval (or a statement that it was not required): all research studies
• Details of funding: all research studies
• Statement of the independence of researchers from funders: all research studies.

Contributorship

Contributors, some of whom may not be included as authors, should be listed at the end of the paper, giving details of who did what in planning, conducting, and reporting the work. One or more of these contributors should be listed as guarantors of the paper. The guarantor accepts full responsibility for the work and/or the conduct of the study, had access to the data, and controlled the decision to publish.

References

References to published works should include the names of the author/editor, publication title, publisher, place and date of publication, and must be in Vancouver style (for examples, please click here).

Page references should also be noted where applicable. Abbreviations of titles or journals should follow the list of journals indexed in Index Medicus. Incorrectly styled references may lead to delay in publication.

Illustrations and tables

Contributors must send original artwork and two copies on separate sheets.

In addition, electronic versions may be submitted in the form as a compressed .tif, .ep, .jpeg or .bitmap file. Resolution must be 600 dpi or above.

Units and abbreviations

The journal recognizes the adoption of the Systeme International d’Unites (SI Units).

Copyright

It is a condition of publication that the article is offered to Leprosy Review alone, that it will be subject to editorial revision, and that its copyright becomes the property of LEPRA.

Copyright in the USA

Authors submitting a manuscript do so on the understanding that if it is accepted for publication, copyright in the article for the United States of America shall be assigned to LEPRA. LEPRA will not put any limitation on the personal freedom of the author to use material contained in the article in other works which may he published in North America.

Copyright 2006 LEPRA

The appearance of the code at the bottom of the first page of a paper in this journal indicates the copyright owner’s consent that copies of the paper may be made for personal or internal use, or for the personal or internal use of specific clients in the USA. This consent is given on the condition, within the USA, that the copier pay the stated per-copy fee through the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 1 Park Avenue, New York, NY 10016, for copying beyond that permitted by Sections 107 or 108 of the US Copyright Law. This consent does not extend to other kinds of copying, such as copying for general distribution, for advertising or promotional purposes, for creating new collective works, for resale or for copying or distributing copies outside the USA.