Submissions

Author Guidelines

Authors are invited to submit manuscripts to this journal. All submissions will be evaluated by an editor to determine whether they meet the journal’s aims and scope. Submissions considered suitable will be sent for peer review before a decision is made regarding acceptance or rejection.

Before submitting a manuscript, authors are responsible for obtaining permission to publish any materials included in the submission, such as photographs, documents, and datasets. All individuals identified as authors in the submission must consent to being listed as authors. When applicable, the research must be approved by an appropriate ethics committee in accordance with the legal requirements of the country in which the study was conducted.

An editor may reject a submission if it does not meet minimum quality standards. Before submitting, please ensure that the study design and research argument are properly structured and clearly articulated. The title should be concise, and the abstract should be able to stand on its own. This will increase the likelihood that reviewers will agree to evaluate the manuscript. Once you are confident that your submission meets these standards, proceed to the checklist below to prepare your submission.

1. GENERAL PRINCIPLES

The Revista Médica de la Caja de Seguro Social is the official medical and scientific publication of the Caja de Seguro Social of Panama. It is published every four months and has been indexed in Imbiomed since December 2013. The journal accepts original research papers, medical editorials, review articles, clinical case reports, clinical images, histopathological images, book reviews, letters to the editor, among others, which are considered by the Editorial Board for acceptance.

For manuscript review, the Editorial Board follows the requirements established in the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), with some modifications. The complete document is available at www.icmje.org.

Articles are reviewed by internal and external peer reviewers. Manuscripts must be unpublished and may not be submitted simultaneously for review by other journals. The Revista Médica de la Caja de Seguro Social shall not be held responsible for the opinions expressed by authors in their articles.

2. AUTHORSHIP CRITERIA

Not all individuals who participate in the preparation of a manuscript should be considered authors. To qualify as an author, an individual must have made a substantial contribution to the conception and design of the study; the collection and analysis of data; the drafting and revision of the article; and the approval of the final version to be published.

Individuals who do not meet all of these requirements should be considered contributors and mentioned in the Acknowledgments section after their written consent has been obtained.

In clinical case reports, when other medical departments or services have participated in establishing the diagnosis—for example, Pathology or Radiology—or in treating the patient, physicians from those services should be given the opportunity to meet the authorship criteria. If they do not wish to participate in all stages of preparing the manuscript, they should then be listed only as contributors.

3. COVER LETTER

The manuscript must be accompanied by a cover letter that includes the title of the manuscript; the names of the authors, their highest academic degrees, and their institutional affiliations; the corresponding author's email address, telephone number, and mailing address; and the reason why the authors wish to have their manuscript published.

4. LETTER OF COMMITMENT

Manuscripts must be accompanied by a letter signed by all authors stating that the article has not been previously published and is not currently under consideration by any other publication, either in whole or in part.

The letter must also indicate whether the work received any type of funding and whether the authors have any conflicts of interest.

It must further state that all authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript and that they fully meet the authorship criteria.

In addition, the letter must indicate that, if the article is accepted, the authors transfer the ownership and reproduction rights to the Revista Médica de la Caja de Seguro Social; however, the authors alone are responsible for the opinions expressed in their articles.

5. GENERAL MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION AND SUBMISSION

The cover letter, letter of commitment, and manuscript—including tables and figures—must be sent by email to:

revistamedicacss@yahoo.com

Manuscripts must be prepared in Microsoft Word using 12-point Times New Roman font, double-spaced, with one-inch margins on both sides and on 8.5 × 11-inch pages.

Each page must be numbered in the upper right-hand margin and must include the first author's surname in the upper left-hand margin.

The use of abbreviations should be limited. When an abbreviation is used, the first occurrence in the text must appear in parentheses following the full term to which it refers. In subsequent occurrences, only the abbreviation should be used.

5.1. Title Page

Title: The title of the article must be provided in both Spanish and English. It must be written in uppercase letters, contain no more than 15 words in total, and avoid the use of abbreviations.

Word count: The total number of words in the article text must be provided, excluding the Spanish summary, English abstract, acknowledgments, figure legends, and references. The number of words in both the Spanish summary and the English abstract must also be provided.

Page, table, and figure count: Indicate the number of pages of article text, from the Introduction through the Conclusions, as well as the number of tables and figures. The article text may not exceed 10 pages.

The names of the authors and their institutional affiliations must not be included in this section. This information must be provided in the cover letter described above.

5.2. Spanish Summary and English Abstract Page

The Spanish summary and English abstract must not exceed 150 words if unstructured or 250 words if structured.

They should address the most relevant aspects of the background, objectives, methods, results, and discussion of the article.

This section must include between 3 and 5 keywords in both Spanish and English. Only keywords included in MeSH (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh) will be accepted.

5.3. Introduction

This section should describe the background available in the scientific literature regarding the topic under study.

The research problem, rationale, and study objectives must also be summarized in this section. All information should be presented as a continuous narrative rather than as separate subsections.

5.4. Methods

This section is of vital importance because it allows other research groups to reproduce the study and test its results.

The type of study and the methods used to select the subjects observed or participating in the experiments must be described.

If human research was conducted, the authors must indicate that written informed consent was obtained from the study participants, that the study followed the ethical principles of the 1975 Declaration of Helsinki, and that it was reviewed and approved by the ethics and scientific committees of the institution where the research was conducted.

The methodology used, as well as the instruments and reagents employed, must be described. The manufacturer's name and city should be provided in parentheses.

If the methodology has previously been used in other publications, it is only necessary to describe it briefly and cite those publications. If the methodology is innovative, it must be described in detail.

The statistical methods and tools used for data analysis must also be specified.

5.5. Results

Results must be presented clearly and systematically and should be complemented by tables and figures placed in the text at the point where they are cited.

Units of measurement must follow the International System of Units (SI).

Tables: Tables must be concise and self-explanatory. They must be numbered with Arabic numerals in the order in which they are cited in the text.

Each table should include a brief title at the top, followed by the column headings, table content, and a footnote explaining the meaning of abbreviations.

Statistical measures of variation, such as standard deviation or standard error of the mean, must be identified.

Only three horizontal lines should be used: one after the title, one after the column headings, and one at the end of the table before the footnote.

Explanations and definitions of abbreviations should be indicated using symbols, which may be used in the following sequence: *, †, Ħ, §, **, ††, ‡‡, §§...

Tables must be cited in the text (e.g., See Table 4).

Figures: Figures include illustrations such as graphs, diagrams, line drawings, maps, photographs, photomicrographs, and similar materials.

Figures must be numbered with Arabic numerals. The title must appear before the body of the figure, and the explanatory legend must appear afterward.

Figures must be placed in the appropriate location within the text and must also be included on the submitted compact disc.

The minimum resolution for figures is 300 dpi, and files must be submitted in JPEG or TIFF format. Each file name must include the figure number.

Figures must be cited in the text (e.g., See Figure 2).

If photographs that allow individuals to be identified are to be published, written authorization must be obtained from the individual consenting to the use of the photograph in a publication.

For photomicrographs, an internal scale marker must be included, the staining method must be specified, and the actual magnification must be indicated, calculated as the eyepiece magnification multiplied by the objective magnification.

Arrows, symbols, or letters included within photomicrographs must be in a color that allows them to be clearly distinguished from the background.

Figures that have previously been published elsewhere may not be republished unless written permission from the copyright holder—the author of the work and the editor of the publication in which it was previously published—is attached.

5.6. Discussion

The study results should be compared with those of previously conducted studies, with an explanation of why the results are considered similar to or different from those reported by other researchers.

This section should describe the new contributions made by the study as well as its limitations.

The section must conclude with the final conclusion of the study.

5.7. Acknowledgments

This section should mention all individuals who contributed to the study but do not meet all of the authorship criteria described above.

Written consent must be obtained from all individuals who will be mentioned in this section.

5.8. References

Only articles that have been reviewed in full may be included in the reference list. Articles for which only the abstract has been read may not be cited as references.

Original research articles and review articles must include at least 20 references, of which at least 10 must have been published within the previous five years.

Clinical case reports must include at least 10 references, and at least 50% of them must have been published within the previous five years.

Clinical images, histopathological images, letters to the editor, and book reviews must include between 3 and 5 references.

References must be indicated using Arabic numerals in superscript, according to the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. The reference number must appear after the punctuation mark (.⁵).

References must follow the format used by the ICMJE. This information is available in the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals: Sample References (www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html).

Some examples are provided below:

Journal Articles:

Authors' full surnames and initials, separated by commas; article title; journal name, abbreviated according to the style used by Index Medicus; year of publication; volume; and pages.

If an article has more than six authors, the first six authors should be listed followed by the term et al.

Example:

Rios-Yuil JM, Bonifaz A, Arenas R, Araiza J, Fernández R, Mercadillo-Pérez P, et al. Mycological studies of nail samples obtained by curettage vs. vertical perforation of the nail plate. J Eur Acad Dermatol Venereol. 2013;27:1189-90.

Books:

Authors' full surnames and initials, separated by commas; book title; edition number; city of publication; publisher; and year.

Example:

Botero D, Restrepo M. Parasitosis humanas. 4ta ed. Medellín: Corporación para Investigaciones Biológicas; 2003.

Book Chapters:

Full surnames and initials of the chapter authors, separated by commas; chapter title; the word “In” followed by a colon; full surnames and initials of the book editors, separated by commas; the word “editors”; book title; edition number; city of publication; publisher; year; and page numbers.

Example:

Barrón Tapia T, Peniche Rosado J. Eccema vesicular agudo palmoplantar (ponfolix). En: Torres Lozada V, Camacho FM, Mihm MC, Sober A, Sánchez Carpintero I, editores. Dermatología Práctica Ibero-Latinoamericana. Atlas, enfermedades sistémicas asociadas y terapéutica. Primera Edición. Cali: Imprelibros S.A.; 2005. p. 451-3.

For other types of publications, follow the ICMJE format described above.

6. RESEARCH ARTICLES

Research articles must comply with the specifications established in Section 5.

7. CLINICAL CASE REPORTS

Clinical case reports must comply with the specifications established in Section 5, with some modifications.

7.1. Title Page

It must be specified whether the manuscript presents a single case or a case series.

7.2. Spanish Summary and English Abstract Page

The Spanish summary and English abstract must not exceed 150 words.

They should address the most relevant aspects of the case and explain the contribution made by its presentation.

This section must include between 3 and 5 keywords in both Spanish and English.

7.3. Introduction

This section should describe the relevant background available in the scientific literature regarding the topic under study.

It should also explain why presenting this case or case series is important.

7.4. Case Presentation

A detailed presentation of the case must be provided, including relevant aspects of the medical history, past medical history, physical examination, differential diagnoses, complementary examinations—including histopathological studies, laboratory tests, and diagnostic studies—the final diagnosis, treatments received, and clinical course.

Tables and figures must appear in the text at the point where they are cited.

No more than five tables or figures will be accepted.

7.5. Discussion

The case should be compared with previously reported cases, explaining why the presentation of the case is considered important.

This section must conclude with the final conclusion of the manuscript.

7.6. Acknowledgments

See Section 5.7.

7.7. References

See Section 5.8.

8. REVIEW ARTICLES

8.1. Title Page

See Section 5.1.

8.2. Spanish Summary and English Abstract Page

The Spanish summary and English abstract must not exceed 150 words.

They should address the most relevant aspects of the topic and explain the contribution provided by the review.

This section must include between 3 and 5 keywords in both Spanish and English.

8.3. Introduction

This section should explain why reviewing the topic is important.

8.4. Content

The necessary subtitles or sections may be added.

Tables and figures must appear in the text at the point where they are cited. No more than five tables or figures will be accepted.

Tables or figures that have previously been published elsewhere may not be republished unless written permission from the copyright holder—the author of the work and the editor of the publication in which it was previously published—is attached.

8.5. Acknowledgments

See Section 5.7.

8.6. References

See Section 5.8.

9. CLINICAL IMAGES

The maximum number of authors permitted in this section is five.

Images must have the highest possible resolution, with a minimum of 300 dpi, and must be submitted in JPEG or TIFF format.

One main image and a maximum of two additional images will be accepted, except in special cases at the discretion of the Editorial Board.

The title must not exceed 10 words.

Images must be accompanied by a double-spaced legend of up to 250 words providing relevant clinical information and complementary examination findings, treatments received, clinical course, and a brief review of the topic.

Between 3 and 5 references will be accepted.

If photographs that allow individuals to be identified are to be published, written authorization must be obtained from the individual consenting to the use of the photograph in a publication.

10. HISTOPATHOLOGICAL IMAGES

The maximum number of authors permitted is five.

This section is intended for the publication of cases in which the histopathological findings are striking and fundamental to the diagnosis.

Only histopathological photographs will be published. If both clinical and histopathological images are available, the manuscript must be published under the Clinical Images category.

Photomicrographs must have the highest possible resolution, with a minimum of 300 dpi, and must be submitted in JPEG or TIFF format.

One main image and a maximum of two additional images will be accepted, except in special cases at the discretion of the Editorial Board.

An internal scale marker must be included, the staining method must be specified, and the actual magnification must be indicated, calculated as the eyepiece magnification multiplied by the objective magnification.

Arrows, symbols, or letters included within the photomicrographs must be in a color that allows them to be clearly distinguished from the background.

The title must not exceed 10 words.

Images must be accompanied by a double-spaced legend of up to 250 words describing the observed histopathological findings, the resulting diagnosis, and a brief review of the topic.

Between 3 and 5 references will be accepted.

11. EDITORIALS

Editorials are written by invitation of the Editorial Board and must not exceed one page.

12. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR AND BOOK REVIEWS

Submissions of up to 500 words and a maximum of three authors will be accepted.

Between 3 and 5 references will be accepted.

AUTHORS MUST COMPLY WITH THESE GUIDELINES.