Submissions

Author Guidelines

1. General information

Colombia Médica publishes articles in the broad field of health science and clinical practice, reporting on novel findings in basic, clinical and translational research.

The scope of the journal is to report novel research results that have an important impact on our understanding of health or the development of diseases, or are likely to bring important changes to the diagnosis or treatment of diseases. Colombia Médica gives the highest priority to papers on general and internal medicine, public health and primary health care.

All articles are evaluated based on an international peer review process. Less than 20% of submitted articles can be accepted. Articles will be selected based on novelty, importance for the field and experimental quality.

Colombia Médica is an Open Access Journal, as the Universidad del Valle and the Programa Editorial de la Universidad del Valle believe that works reporting the results of scientific research should be openly accessible and freely usable by the entire scientific community.

The current impact factor of Colombia Médica is 0.164 (JCR 2014 impact factor).

Follow us on:

• the web: http://colombiamedica.univalle.edu.co
• PubMed Central Site: Colombia Médica
• Facebook:www.facebook.com/ColombiaMedica

1.1 Manuscript submission

Manuscripts should be submitted through the online manuscript processing system:

http://colombiamedica.univalle.edu.co/index.php/comedica/login

At initial submission, these files will be requested:

• one word document with the text, tables, and figures (please make sure the file size is below 5 Mb)
• one pdf file with all supplemental data

At submission of a revised manuscript, these files will be requested:

• one word document with text and tables (indicate in color the changes that were made compared to the first submission)
• single high quality files for each figure (jpg is preferred)
• one pdf file with all supplemental data

AUTHOR CONTRIBUTION AND DISCLOSURE FORMS SHOULD BE COMPLETED ONLINE DURING SUBMISSION, NO FORMS NEED TO BE SUBMITTED SEPARATELY.

These forms are only needed if the information was not provided online:

• copyright form
• author contribution form
• COI disclosure forms for each author (Colombia Médica follows the guidelines of ICMJE.)

Colombia Médica recommends reading the article Ten Simple (Empirical) Rules for Writing Science to improve your manuscript

1.2 Submission fees

There is no submission fee for original articles, letters, comments, editorials, case report, guideline articles and review articles.

1.3 Review process

All manuscripts submitted to Colombia Médica are critically assessed by external and inhouse experts in accordance with the principles of Peer Review, which is fundamental to the scientific publication process and the dissemination of sound science. Each paper is first evaluated by one or more editors, who will assess the overall quality and novelty of the work and the article's appropriateness for the scope of Colombia Médica. Articles that are not found to be relevant for Colombia Médica will not be send out for external review and will be returned to the authors. The remaining articles are reviewed by external referees (second step of classical peer-review). We aim to provide feedback to the authors in less than 4 weeks after submission.

1.4 Publications charges

There is no publications fee for all articles. All Colombia Médica articles are also uploaded to PubMed Central as a digital preservation service to our authors.

1.5 Copyright

Authors will grant copyright of their article to the Universidad del Valle. No formal permission will be required to reproduce parts (tables or illustrations) of published papers, provided the source is quoted appropriately and reproduction has no commercial intent. Reproductions with commercial intent will require written permission and payment of royalties. Please contact the office for requests: colombiamedica@correounivalle.edu.co

1.6 Clinical trials

Obligation to Register Clinical Trials

We believe that it is important to foster a comprehensive, publicly available database of clinical trials. We therefore request, as a condition of consideration for publication, the registration of all clinical trials in a public trials registry. The ICMJE provides specific guidelines on this topic. The ICMJE defines a clinical trial as any research project that prospectively assigns human subjects to intervention or concurrent comparison or control groups to study the cause-and-effect relationship between a medical intervention and a health outcome. Medical interventions include drugs, surgical procedures, devices, behavioral treatments, process-of-care changes, and the like.
Colombia Médica does not advocate one particular registry, but follows the ICMJE recommendations. Because it is critical that trial registries are independent of for-profit interests, the ICMJE policy requires registration in a WHO primary registry rather than solely in an associate registry, since for-profit entities manage some associate registries. The details of the ICMJE policy are published online.

1.7 Reporting guidelines for main study types

The following resources will help you to produce high quality research publications:

• Ramdomised Trials: CONSORT
• Observational studies: STROBE
• Systemic review: PRISMA
• Case Report: CARE
• Qualitative research: SRQR, COREQ
• Diagnostic/prognostic studies: STARD, TRIPOD
• Quality improvement studies: SQUIRE
• Economic evaluations: CHEERS
• Animal pre-clinical studies: ARRIVE
• Study protocols: SPIRIT, PRISMA-P
• Other research reporting guidelines: EQUATOR Network
  
  

1.8 Ethical considerations

Documented review and approval from a formally constituted review board (Institutional Review Board - IRB - or Ethics committee) is required for all studies (prospective or retrospective) involving people, medical records, and human tissues. Colombia Médica requires that the authors provide this information on the manuscript's website, and also that they report it explicitly under 'Methods'.

Protection of human individuals in research

When reporting experiments on human individuals, authors should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2013. If doubt exists whether the research was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration, the authors must explain the rationale for their approach and demonstrate that the institutional review body explicitly approved the doubtful aspects of the study.

Patients have a right to privacy that should not be violated without informed consent. Identifying information, including names, initials, or hospital numbers, should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, or pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication.

Protection of animals in research

When performing experiments on animals or animal tissues, authors should seek approval by an institutional ethics committee and should strictly follow the institutional and national guide for the care and use of laboratory animals. At time of manuscript submission, authors should provide information on the study approval by an institutional ethical committee. We can only consider manuscripts reporting on studies on animals or animal tissues if ethical committee approval of the study can be documented.

2. Manuscript preparation

2.1 Manuscript style

Manuscripts should be prepared according to the Uniform Requirements established by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE): http://www.icmje.org/manuscript_1prepare.html
Manuscripts should be prepared using in Spanish or English spelling, and should be submitted as Word files. Submit one manuscript file with the main text, figure legends and tables. Save your file in .doc format.

Scientific nomenclatur should be used without Saxon Genitive (for example: use 'Hodgkin Lymphoma' and not 'Hodgkin's Lymphoma'). Saxon Genitive should be maintained in references.

Abbreviations or acronyms should only be used when necessary (do not use abbreviations of words that are only used once or twice in the entire text), and should be explained at their first use. Abbreviations should be avoided in the title and in the abstract.

 

2.2 Nomenclature

Use correct and established nomenclature wherever possible.

• Units of measurement. Use SI units. If you do not use these exclusively, provide the SI value in parentheses after each value.
• Drugs. The use of commercial names of drugs should be avoided. Drugs should only be referred to under their generic names our Recommended International Non-Proprietary Name (rINN), unless different products are being compared.
• Species names Write in italics (e.g., Homo sapiens). Write out in full the genus and species, both in the title of the manuscript and at the first mention of an organism in a paper. After first mention, the first letter of the genus name followed by the full species name may be used (e.g., H. sapiens).
• Genes, mutations, genotypes, and alleles. Use the official gene symbols when referring to genes, transcripts, proteins. (for example: Use ABL1, not ABL or c-ABL ; use ETV6, not TEL). Please use this database as a reference: NCBI - gene

2.3 References:

We use a new style since September 2015. Please see the latest issue of Colombia Médica for an example. Colombia Médica uses the reference style outlined by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), also referred to as the “Vancouver” style. Example formats are listed below. Additional examples are in the ICMJE sample references.

Journal name abbreviations should be those found in the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) databases.

Please note the following examples:

Published articles

• Arteaga G, Buritica E, Escobar MI, Pimienta H. Human prefrontal layer II interneurons in areas 46, 10 and 24 . Colomb Med. 2015;46(1):19-25.
• Devaraju P, Gulati R, Antony PT, Mithun CB, Negi VS. Susceptibility to SLE in South Indian Tamils may be influenced by genetic selection pressure on TLR2 and TLR9 genes. Mol Immunol. 2014 Nov 22. pii: S0161-5890(14)00313-7. doi: 10.1016/j.molimm.2014.11.005

Note: A DOI number for the full-text article is acceptable as an alternative to or in addition to traditional volume and page numbers.

Accepted, unpublished articles

Same as published articles, but substitute “In press” for page numbers or DOI.

Web sites or online articles

Huynen MMTE, Martens P, Hilderlink HBM. The health impacts of globalisation: a conceptual framework. Global Health. 2005;1: 14. Available: http://www.globalizationandhealth.com/content/1/1/14.

Books Bates

B. Bargaining for life: A social history of tuberculosis. 1st ed. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press; 1992.

Book chapters

Hansen B. New York City epidemics and history for the public. In: Harden VA, Risse GB, editors. AIDS and the historian. Bethesda: National Institutes of Health; 1991. pp. 21-28.

Deposited articles (preprints, e-prints, or arXiv)

Krick T, Shub DA, Verstraete N, Ferreiro DU, Alonso LG, Shub M, et al. Amino acid metabolism conflicts with protein diversity; 1991. Preprint. Available: arXiv:1403.3301v1. Accessed 17 March 2014.

Published media (print or online newspapers and magazine articles)

Fountain H. For Already Vulnerable Penguins, Study Finds Climate Change Is Another Danger. The New York Times. 29 Jan 2014. Available: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/01/30/science/earth/climate-change-taking-toll-on-penguins-study-finds.html. Accessed 17 March 2014.

New media (blogs, web sites, or other written works)

Allen L. Announcing PLOS Blogs. 2010 Sep 1 [cited 17 March 2014]. In: PLOS Blogs [Internet]. San Francisco: PLOS 2006 - . [about 2 screens]. Available: http://blogs.plos.org/plos/2010/09/announcing-plos-blogs/.

Masters' theses or doctoral dissertations

Wells A. Exploring the development of the independent, electronic, scholarly journal. M.Sc. Thesis, The University of Sheffield. 1999. Available: http://cumincad.scix.net/cgi-bin/works/Show?2e09

Databases and repositories (Figshare, arXiv)

Roberts SB. QPX Genome Browser Feature Tracks; 2013.Database: figshare [Internet]. Accessed: http://figshare.com/articles/QPX_Genome_Browser_Feature_Tracks/701214.

Multimedia (videos, movies, or TV shows)

Hitchcock A, producer and director. Rear Window [Film]; 1954. Los Angeles: MGM.

 

2.4 Figures

Image size and layout: Image layout should be simple, clear and precise. In order to promote good management of the space, images must take up the least space possible without compromising clarity. Figures can be either one column width (8 cm) or 2 column widths (16 cm). If the figure contains different panels their content should be identified (use capital letters to identify each panel) and described in the order in which they are presented. Please ensure that a description is provided for all parts of the figure. Please ensure that different parts of the image are shown in proportion to each other, e.g. axis scales and labels, internal descriptive text. Lines should be black (not grey) and sufficiently thick. Data which has no graphic significance to any part of the figure content and form should be presented as a separate table.

Figure quality: When a manuscript is accepted for publication, high quality figures will be required and will be asked to the authors. High quality figures should be submitted in tiff format. Note that we can not accept figures as presentation slides (Microsoft Powerpoint, Apple Keynote, or similar) as these can not be printed in high quality. The resolution of figures should be sufficiently high to allow clear sharp printing. The best way to determine if a figure is of sufficient quality is to print it in its final size: if all lines, letters, images are sharp and clear (not blurry or unfocused) and sufficiently large to read, then the figure is most likely fine. It is not possible to increase the quality of low quality images : be sure to capture high quality images at all times during experimental procedures. When making figures in adobe illustrator or similar software, export your figures as 300 dpi or 600 dpi jpg files (for text 600 dpi is likely to be the best option).

We can not accept low quality figures. The final acceptance of a manuscript will be delayed if the authors fail to provide high quality figures.

Reproductions and adaptations: The author must obtain written permission for the reproduction and adaptation of material that has already been published. Permission should be obtained from the copyright holder or publisher. Before a manuscript goes into print, Colombia Médica will need to receive a copy of the written permission. All material presented from other sources should be identified and should be accompanied by a specific reference in the legend confirming that permission for its use had been obtained, for example: “Adapted from Berger et al. Leukemia 2003, 17, 1820-1826; with permission.”

Colombia Médica recommends reading the article "Ten Simple Rules for Better Figures" to improve your figures.

2.5 Conflict of interest note:

Conflict of interest regarding papers that do not report original research (primary data). As detailed under Editorial Policies authors must disclose all relationships that could be viewed as potential conflicts of interest both in the online manuscript submission system and in the manuscript. These disclosures are expected to help readers in establishing whether the reported relationships may influence the authors’ judgment. Colombia Médica believes that this procedure is appropriate with respect to papers reporting original research (original articles, brief reports and research letters) as primary data speak for themselves. This procedure may be insufficient with respect to papers that do not report primary data, such as editorials, perspective articles, commentaries, review articles, guidelines, consensus papers and position papers. As stated by Kassirer & Angell [Kassirer JP, Angell M. Financial conflicts of interest in biomedical research. N Engl J Med. 1993 Aug 19;329(8):570-1. PubMed PMID: 8204121] “unlike reports of original research, these articles represent the judgment of their authors, based on their evaluation of the literature. What studies they select to discuss and their analysis of them are necessarily subjective. Bias may be extremely difficult to detect because these articles contain no primary data to speak for themselves.” Nonetheless, disclosing relationships that could be viewed as potential conflicts of interest may be acceptable in many of these papers. Colombia Médica, however, no longer considers for publication papers not reporting primary data - such as those listed above - whose preparation has been promoted, sponsored or supported in any way by a company whose product is discussed in the paper. In fact, the clear conflict of interest is very likely to influence judgment in these cases, and there are no primary data that can speak for themselves. This point is detailed in the online manuscript processing system; if doubts exist about this issue, the authors are invited to contact the editorial office (colombiamedica@correounivalle.edu.co) before proceeding with submission.

 

3. Types of manuscripts

 

• Author Submissions:  (1) Original  Article, (2) View Point, (3) Letter to the Editor, (4) Case Report, (5) Windows to History
• Invited Submissions: (6) Review, (7) Editorial, (8) Practice, (9) State of the Art.

Submissions that do not adhere to the guidelines provided in this document will be returned to the author prior to consideration. Material that cannot fit within the allowed limit may be submitted as supplementary information.

 

3.1 Original Article  (See: Reporting guidelines for main study types)

Abstract: The Abstract comes after the title page in the manuscript file. The abstract text is also entered in a separate field in the submission system. The Abstract of the paper should be succinct; it must not exceed 250 words. Authors should mention the techniques used without going into methodological detail and should summarize the most important results.the Abstract is conceptually divided into four sections Background (opcional) , Aim,Methods, Results (Principal Findings), and Conclusions/Significance.Do not include any citations. Avoid specialist abbreviations.

Author Summary: We ask that all authors of research articles include a 150–200 word non-technical summary of the work as part of the manuscript to immediately follow the abstract. This text is subject to editorial change, should be written in the first-person voice, and should be distinct from the scientific abstract.Aim to highlight where your work fits within a broader context; present the significance or possible implications of your work simply and objectively; and avoid the use of acronyms and complex terminology wherever possible. The goal is to make your findings accessible to a wide audience that includes both scientists and non-scientists.Authors may benefit from consulting with a science writer or press officer to ensure they effectively communicate their findings to a general audience.

Introduction: The Introduction should put the focus of the manuscript into a broader context. As you compose the Introduction, think of readers who are not experts in this field. Include a brief review of the key literature and epidemiology. If there are relevant controversies or disagreements in the field, they should be mentioned so that a non-expert reader can delve into these issues further. The Introduction should conclude with a brief statement of the overall aim of the experiments and a comment about whether that aim was achieved.

Materials and Methods: This section should provide enough detail for reproduction of the findings. Protocols for new methods should be included, but well-established protocols may simply be referenced. While we do encourage authors to submit all appendices, detailed protocols, or details of the algorithms for newer or less well-established methods, please do so as Supporting Information files. These are not included in the typeset manuscript, but are downloadable and fully searchable from the HTML version of the article.

Results: The Results section should provide details of all of the experiments that are required to support the conclusions of the paper. There is no specific word limit for this section, but details of experiments that are peripheral to the main thrust of the article and that detract from the focus of the article should not be included. The section may be divided into subsections, each with a concise subheading. The section should be written in the past tense.Large datasets, including raw data, should be submitted as supporting files or in a repository.

Discussion: The Discussion should spell out the major conclusions of the work along with some explanation or speculation on the significance of these conclusions. How do the conclusions affect the existing assumptions and models in the field? How can future research build on these observations? What are the key experiments that must be done? The Discussion should be concise and tightly argued.

References: References must be limited to those that are necessary. Colombia Médica does not restrict the number of references; however suggests not exceed 30 for manuscripts

Any and all available works can be cited in the reference list. Acceptable sources include:

• Published or accepted manuscripts
• Manuscripts on pre-print servers, if the manuscript is submitted to a journal and also publicly available as a pre-print

Do not cite the following sources in the reference list:

• Unavailable and unpublished work, including manuscripts that have been submitted but not yet accepted (e.g., “unpublished work,” “data not shown”). Instead, include those data as supplementary material or deposit the data in a publicly available database.
• Personal communications (these should be supported by a letter from the relevant authors but not included in the reference list)

 

3.2 Viewpoints

These articles serve primarily as a forum for the discussion of controversial, emerging, or topical issues in the field; occasionally, the discussion surrounds a challenge to findings in a published research article.

Viewpoints are subset of articles that reflect a particular position adopted by a person or a group. It is an articulated organized perspective about a particular topic or issue associated with health research. A Viewpoint must be clearly expressed, and demonstrate a thorough and broad understanding of the literature and practices in the field. The opinion expressed must be cogently presented and lead to insights and possibly new and interesting perspectives. Colombia Médica will expect a Viewpoint paper to stimulate discussion among the scientific community that will result in advancing our knowledge and understanding of contemporary issues as well as practice in medicine and health.

While the subjective nature of Viewpoints manuscripts should be taken into account, high scholarly standards for relevance, documentation, organization, and content pertain. The author must establish a context for why the manuscript is justified and must point toward the implications or consequences that might follow from the opinions expressed in the article.

Authors must be researchers with experience in the subject discussed

Abstract: The Abstract of the paper should be succinct; it must not exceed 200 words. Authors should express the main idea and a concise argument position in one or two paragraphs. Avoid specialist abbreviations.

Introduction: The context for the article is made in the introduction and a logical case is made for the expression of the Viewpoint. Historical background is thoroughly reviewed, where appropriate. Key concepts and terms are well explained.

Viewpoint: The purpose of the Viewpoint is clear and well articulated. The Viewpoint is cogently argued. The parts of the manuscript are well integrated, coherent and the conclusions follow. Contrasting viewpoints or counter-arguments are considered. The perceived benefits, and limitations, of the position advocated are clearly stated.

References: References must be limited to those that are necessary. Colombia Médica does not restrict the number of references; however suggests not exceed 30 for manuscripts

 

3.3 Letter to the Editor

Letter to the Editor submissions must be no longer than 750 words, no more than 10 references, and no more than a total of 2 figures and tables (combined).  If the Letter to the Editor is written in response to a Colombia Médica article, the Editor-in-Chief may choose to invite the article's authors to write a Letter to the Editor reply.  The Letter to the Editor section is not considered to be an appropriate venue for publishing new data without peer review, nor for comments made in response to a previously published Correspondence.  Studies with scientific merit should be considered for submission as an Original Report to an appropriate journal.
Instructions for Letter to the Editor:Letters in reference to a Journal article must be received within 12 weeks after online publication of the article.Limit text to 750 words or fewer, limit of 10 references, no more than a total of 2 figures and tables (combined).Provide a succinctly worded title, which differs from the previously published Colombia Médica article.Include a title page.

 

3.4 Case Report

Colombia Médica publishes original and interesting case reports that contribute significantly to medical knowledge.Manuscripts must meet one of the following criteria:

• Unreported or unusual side effects or adverse interactions involving medications
• Unexpected or unusual presentations of a disease
• New associations or variations in disease processes
• Presentations, diagnoses and/or management of new and emerging diseases
• An unexpected association between diseases or symptoms
• An unexpected event in the course of observing or treating a patient
• Findings that shed new light on the possible pathogenesis of a disease or an adverse effect

Authors should indicate in the abstract and cover letter how the case report adds to the medical literature. Submissions that do not include this information will be returned to authors prior to peer review.

Case reports should include an up-to-date review of all previous cases in the field. Authors should seek written and signed consent to publish the information from the patients or their guardians prior to submission. Authors will be asked to confirm informed consent was received as part of the submission process, and the manuscript must include a statement to this effect by including a 'Consent' section, as follows: "Written informed consent was obtained from the patient for publication of this case report and accompanying images. A copy of the written consent is available for review by the Editor-in-Chief of this journal

See the CARE guidelines to write the manuscript of case report.

Abstract: For a Case Report, the structured abstract must include the following headings: Case Description, Clinical Findings, Treatment and Outcome, Clinical Relevance

Introduction: The Introduction should put the focus of the manuscript into a broader context. As you compose the Introduction, think of readers who are not experts in this field. Include a brief review of the key literature and epidemiology. The Introduction should conclude with a brief statement of the overall aim of the case report and a comment about whether that aim was achieved.

Case Description: A Case Report begins with the signalment (eg, age, sex, ...) of the patient, followed by a chronologic description of pertinent aspects of the diagnostic examination, treatment, and outcome, and ends with a brief discussion. When more than 1 patients is involved, a representative of the group should be described in detail; important differences among patients can be addressed separately. For reports in which there are 3 or fewer patients, pertinent abnormal findings should be summarized in the text. For 4 or more patients, 1 table that provides a summary of pertinent abnormal findings may be accommodated, provided that such findings are not repeated in the text.

Discussion: The Discussion should be concise and tightly argued.Should discuss the main findings, differential diagnosis, therapeutic alternatives, as appropriate.Do not include the extensive literature reviews. Conclude with the value of the contribution to clinical practice or knowledge of the case report

References: References must be limited to those that are necessary. Colombia Médica does not restrict the number of references; however suggests not exceed 12 for manuscripts

 

3.4 Windows to History

Colombia Médica publishes articles spanning the social, cultural, and scientific aspects of the history of medicine worldwide. Articles are based on historical research in primary or secundary sources that allow the author to make interpretations and to place the health in historical context. Article should be no longer than 1500 words, may contain a total of one table or figure (optional) and should not include an abstract.

References:References must be limited to those that are necessary. Colombia Médica does not restrict the number of references; however suggests not exceed 12 for manuscripts

 

3.5 Editorial

Written by the journal's editors, our guest Editorialist these occasional pieces can cover announcements, highlights of journal content, position statements, and journal updates.

The Editor-in-Chief may solicit an Editorial to accompany an accepted manuscript. Editorialists are expected to provide a balanced opinion of the paper in question and must not have conflict of interest that could compromise their objectivity. Any concerns that the editorialist might have regarding conflict of interest should be discussed with the Editor-in-Chief, before the editorial is written. Editorials should be no longer than 1500 words, may contain a total of one table or figure (optional), and should not include an abstract.  The Editorial should generally not be divided into subheadings, although on occasion a few subheadings to promote clarity might be permitted at the discretion of the Editor. Opinions stated in Editorials should not be overly speculative and should be supported by facts published in the medical literature. Editorials are subjected to editing and final approval by the Editor-in-Chief.

 

3.6 Reviews

Review articles are welcomed by the Journal and are generally solicited by the Editor-in-Chief; authors wishing to submit an unsolicited Review Article are invited to contact the Editor-in-Chief prior to submission in order to screen the proposed topic for relevance and priority, given other review articles that may already be in preparation. Review articles should focus on recent scientific or clinical advances in an area of broad interest to those in the field of medicine and health. Such articles must be concise and critical and should include appropriate references to the literature. All Review Articles, including those solicited by the Editors, are rigorously peer reviewed before a final publication decision is made.

Authors must be researchers with experience in the subject discussed

See the Ten Simple Rules for Writing a Literature Review to write the manuscript of literature review.

Abstract: The Abstract of the paper should be succinct; it must not exceed 200 words. Authors should express the main idea and a concise argument position in one or two paragraphs. Avoid specialist abbreviations.

Introduction: The context for the article is made in the introduction and a logical case is made for the expression of the Viewpoint. Historical background is thoroughly reviewed, where appropriate. Key concepts and terms are well explained.

Main Text (broken into subsections as appropriate): These succinct, synthetic, well-focused, and engaging Reviews should appeal to a broad genetics readership. Aim for no more than 4,000 words (introduction and main text), two or three display items, and a concise list of the most relevant references. The article should include an overview of the existing literature that places the topic within a broader context, but it should also focus on the future: where is the field going and what exciting developments are expected? It is particularly important to highlight critical new advances, open questions, and standing controversies or paradoxes as these are especially valued by a general readership.

The use of tables and color figures to summarize critical points is encouraged; the Journal offers assistance with preparation or improvement of figures by professional illustrators, once the article is accepted.

References: References must be limited to those that are necessary. Colombia Médica does not restrict the number of references; however suggests not exceed 100 for manuscripts

 

4. Manuscript structure

4.1.Format.

Manuscripts (including footnotes, references, figure legends, and tables) should be prepared with the following attributes:

• 8.5 X 11-inch (or A4) page size
• Double-space typed
• 12-point Times New Roman font
• 1-inch (2.5-cm) margins
• Left justification
• Sequential line numbering

 

4.2 Organization and contents.

Manuscripts should be organized as follows:

• Title page
• Structured abstract (when applicable; letters to the editor, commentaries, feature submissions, and Reference Point articles excluded)
• Text
• Footnotes
• References
• Figure legends
• Tables

 

4.3 Title Page

Information provided on the title page should correspond exactly with the information provided in the online system. The title should consist of a phrase or a sentence; question forms should be avoided. Capitalize the first letter of the sentence only, and do not use abbreviations.Study group names may be presented in the title, however, all members’ names should be listed in an appendix and presented at the end of the main text; Add for example: A complete list of the members of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer and Nutrition Group appears in a supplement. Acronyms such as EBMT, GOELAMS, GEIL, are acceptable. Commercial names of drugs should be avoided (use only the generic names), unless different products are being compared.

To ensure a blinded review, do not include the author’s name or institution in the running head or anywhere inthe manuscript or in the file names of manuscript components (abstract, manuscript, figure/table). This includes references in the first person to the author’s own work. Manuscripts that do not meet this requirement will not be reviewed. This information should be provided in the metadata section of the online submission system. (Author names will be published exactly as they appear in the METADATA section. Please double-check the information carefully to make sure it is correct)

Trial registration: Confirmation and details of trial registration should be given on the first page; please use the following form: “clinicaltrials.gov identifier: NCT00123456.”

Acknowledgments should refer to secretarial and editorial assistance, technical and intellectual input and advice, funding, fellowships and grants. The form to be used is “The authors would like to thank...”

 

4.4 Abstract

Summary of the work, word limit is dependent on the type of article.
Letters and editorials do not have an abstract.

 

4.5 Main text

Word limit is dependent on the type of article.
Tables and Figures: The presentation of Tables and Figures should always follow the same order in which they are presented in the main text. All references to Tables and Figures should be presented in brackets and should only specify “Table” or “Figure” and the relevant identification number.
When reference is made to more than one Table or more than one Figure, please separate the identification numbers with a hyphen and use “and” to present Tables or Figures that are not consecutive.
Please pay particular attention to spacing (for example: Figures 1-2; Tables 1 and 3; Figures 2-4 and 6; Tables 2, 4 and 6). References referring to Figure panels and subpanels should be presented by adding a capital letter in alphabetic order immediately after the identification number (for example: Figure 1A, Figure 1B). When reference is made to more than one Figure panel or subpanel, please separate the capital letters with a hyphen and use a comma followed by a space to separate capital letters that are not consecutive (for example: Figure 2 B-C ; Figure 3 B, D).

 

4.6 Tables (tables should be placed after the references)

Provide tables in a simple format, without specific layout. The final layout will be given by journal staff at time the final manuscript pdf file is prepared. Tables should have a short clear title. Provide a legend to the table (if needed) directly below the table. Explain all abbreviations that are used in the table in the legend.

 

4.7 Figure legends (figure legends should be placed after the tables)

Figures should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are presented in the main text, e.g. Figure 3. Give every figure a short clear title, followed by a brief description of figure content. Provide sufficient detail in the figure legend, but do not repeat what is discussed in the text.

 

4.8 Supplements

In addition to the main Word file, one additional pdf file can be submitted containing supplemental material. Please prepare one single pdf file containing all supplemental data (supplemental methods, supplemental data, supplemental figures, supplemental tables).
Additional files that can not be incorporated in a pdf file (such as video, large excel tables running over several pages, etc.) can be provided separately.

Please submit the manuscript with the tables and figure legends placed after the references.

Any specific questions can be addressed to: colombiamedica@correounivalle.edu.co