Original Articles. Original research
papers in allergy and
immunopathology, new forms of therapy
for allergic and immune
disorders, new applications of
diagnostic methods, and clinical and
experimental studies on the
immunopathogenesis of allergic diseases
and
immune disorders are welcome. Note that
a report of a case series may
be considered an original article only
if there is an explicit objective that
motivated the retrospective or
prospective (cohort) study, which should
include appropriate statistical
treatment of the data.
Advice on appropriate sectioning of
original articles can be found
in the ICMJE’s Uniform Requirements. In
those requirements, it is also
recommended that certain study designs
follow particular structures for
optimum reporting; links to those
specific recommendations can be obtained
from the ICMJE website. They are the
CONSORT statement for randomized
controlled trials, the STARD statement
for studies of diagnostic accuracy, the
QUOROM statement for systematic reviews
and meta-analyses of trials, the
STROBE statement for observational
studies, and the MOOSE statement for
systematic analyses and meta-analyses of
observational studies.
Case Reports. A report is a
description of a single case or a small
series of cases illustrating exceptional
results. Case report sections are as
follows: introduction, case description,
discussion. Maximum length is
1500 words, not including abstract, figure
legends, or references (please
supply a word count); up to 3 figures
and/or tables will be accepted. For
guidance on acceptable handling of
photographs and other safeguards
of patient confidentiality and
anonymity, refer to section II.E.1 of
the
ICMJE’s Uniform Requirements: Patients
and Study Participants.
References are limited to 20.
Short Communications and Brief Case
Notes. These short papers,
which are intended for rapid
publication, follow the same structures
as
longer original articles or case reports
described above but do not use
subheadings or include an abstract. The
text is strictly limited to less than
600 words (please supply a word count),
up to 10 references, 1 figure or
table, and up to 5 key words.
Editorials and Review Articles.
Contributions from specialists in the
field are requested by the Editors.
Unsolicited reviews will be subject
to consideration by the Editorial Board
or subject to peer review at the
Board’s discretion.
Letters to the Editor. Comments on
articles published in J Investig
Allergol Clin Immunol are welcome.
The letter will be sent to the author
of the related article, who will have 4
weeks to answer. After the reply, no
further correspondence will be accepted.
Letters will be reviewed by the
Editorial Board or subject to peer
review at the Board’s discretion
Manuscripts should be typewritten,
double-spaced with ample margins
on all sides, and with numbered pages,
following the ICMJE Uniform
Requirements. The word limits for the
body of the text, not including
abstract, figure legends, or references
are as follows: original articles, 3500
words; reviews 7500; case reports, 1500;
short communications, brief case
notes and letters, 600. (Please supply a
word count on the title page.)
Title Page. The first page should
contain the full title, a brief running
title
(not to exceed 40 characters), full name
of author(s), institutional affiliation
of author(s), and name, mailing address,
fax and e-mail of the author to
whom all correspondence should be
directed. Note the word count and the
number of tables and figures. If data
have been presented in abstract or
poster
form at conferences, this information
should be noted after the title page, as
should funding sources for the study or
any author conflicts of interest.
Abstract. Original articles, case
reports and reviews require abstracts.
The major points of the article should
be summarized in 150 (case reports)
to 250 words (original and review
articles), in the order of their
appearance
in the manuscript. Material or facts not
cited in the full manuscript should
not be included in the abstract. The
abstract of an original article should
be organized with the following
subheadings: Background (optional),
Objective(s), Methods (or Material and
Methods or Patients and Methods,
as appropriate), Results, Conclusion(s).
Such structuring is unnecessary
for reviews and case reports.
Key Words. Three to 8 key words or
brief phrases should be included
after the abstract for indexing
purposes. The Medical Subject Headings
used by the US National Library of
Medicine’s Index Medicus (MEDLINE)
are preferred.
Main Text. For original articles,
authors should follow the ICMJE
Uniform Requirements for structuring
their articles into sections and
subsections, as mentioned above.
As the ICMJE does not describe the
content of case reports, we
offer the following guidance: the
introduction describes the relevance
of the clinical entity and ends with a
brief characterization of the
case; the case description section gives
a chronological account of the
presentation, diagnosis, clinical course
and outcomes; the discussion
section frames the case in a concise
review of the literature and may
suggest implications.
Tables. Each table should be typed
on a separate page after the
references. Authors are requested,
whenever possible, to construct tables
that can be arranged on the page and
read in the same direction as the text.
Titles should not exceed two lines.
Information appearing in fi gures
or text should not be included in
tables.
Figures. Figures should illustrate
important results, and they should
be cited in the text. Line artwork (such
as graphs) should be submitted
as TIFF files, with a minimum resolution
of 800 dpi. Other artwork
(such as photographs) should be
submitted as 250-300 dpi TIFF fi les.
Legends should be included on a separate
page in the manuscript, after
the references.
Acknowledgments. When necessary,
credit should be given to
persons, centers or foundations who have
collaborated in the study.
Please also acknowledge help received in
preparation of the manuscript
(editing services, translation, or
other) or statistical analysis. Refer to
advice in the ICMJE’s Uniform
Requirements.
References. All references should be
numbered consecutively
throughout the text and enclosed in
square brackets placed before
punctuation. Journal abbreviations in
the reference list should be those
of the US National Library of Medicine’s
Index Medicus. (See a few
examples below.) Complete citation of
all the author(s) name(s) should
be followed by the complete title of the
paper, abbreviated journal title,
year, volume, and first and last page
number. When citing a chapter
from a book, the author(s) name(s)
should be followed by the complete
title of the paper, title of the book,
volume number, editor(s) name(s),
address and name of the publisher, year,
and first and last page numbers:
References (with the exception of review
articles) should be limited to
approximately 35 for original articles
and approximately 20 for case
reports.
Authors should not submit manuscripts in
which Microsoft Word
footnoting tools have been used to
insert references; if other reference
management software is used, authors
should remove the hyperlinks
before submitting the manuscript.
Following are 3 examples of reference
presentation forms. For
additional examples, see the US National
Library of Medicine’s complete
list:
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html
.
1. Parameswaran K,
Radford K, Zuo J, Janssen LJ,
O’Byrne PM,
Cox PG. Extracellular matrix
regulates human airway smooth
muscle cell migration. Eur Respir J.
2004;24:545-51.
2. Global Initiative
for Asthma. Global Strategy for
Asthma
Management and Prevention NIH Pub.
No 02-3659, January
1995. Updated 2005. [cited 2006 Oct
24]. Available from: www.
ginasthma.com.
3. Marsh DG. Genetic
and molecular analysis of human
immune
responsiveness to allergens. In:
Marsh DG, Lockhart A, Holgate
ST, editors. The genetics of asthma.
Oxford: Blackwell Scientific
Publications; 1993. p. 201-13.
