Articles
Technical Requirements for Articles
Text length should remain between 25,000 and 40,000 characters (including spaces, notes and bibliography). Please include your name, institution, title with abstract (between 800 and 1,000 characters including spaces) and five keywords in English on the title page. Please use The Chicago Manual of Style 17th edition, notes and bibliography. Guidelines can be found on the CMOS website. The number of pictures/figures (to be sent as separate JPEG or TIFF files, minimum resolution: 300 dpi) should not exceed three per article. If you intend to include more illustrations, feel free to contact the editors to discuss accommodating your needs. Please note that the author of the article is obliged to hold the copyright for the illustrations.
Duties of Authors
GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS
The author’s work should be the result of original research and should present an accurate account of the work performed. It should also contain an objective discussion of its significance. Underlying data should be represented accurately in the manuscript. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and will not be tolerated.
ORIGINALITY AND PLAGIARISM
The authors should ensure that they have written entirely original works, and if the authors have used the work and/or words of others it should be ensured that this has been appropriately cited or quoted. Plagiarism can appear in various forms: the copying or paraphrasing of parts or whole texts written by others without proper citation, the copying of research results by others without proper citation etc. Every form of plagiarism is unethical and will not be tolerated.
MULTIPLE, REDUNDANT OR CONCURRENT PUBLICATION
Authors should not publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. This implicates that authors should not submit articles which already have been published in other journals. Parallel submission of the same manuscript to more than one journal constitutes unethical publishing behavior and will not be tolerated.
However, there is one exception: the publishing of the same article (as well as translations and clinical guidelines) in multiple journals can be justified if the editors-in-chief of the journal in question give their consent, data and interpretation match the results from the first publication and the first publication is mentioned in the second one.
AUTHORSHIP OF AN ARTICLE
Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors. Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be named in an Acknowledgement section. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors (according to the above definition) and no inappropriate co-authors are included in the author list of the manuscript, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication.
DISCLOSURE AND CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
All authors should disclose any financial or other substantive conflict of interest (e.g. due to personal or professional relationships and/or personal knowledge and beliefs) that might be suited to influence the results or their interpretation in their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed (e.g. salaries, development funds, membership, shareholdings etc.). If necessary, by publishing all data that is needed.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF SOURCES
Proper acknowledgement of the work of others must always be given. Authors should also cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. Private discussions with third parties for instance should not be used without the explicit, written permission of the source. Moreover, authors should not use confidential information gained from expert’s reports or grant applications without an explicit, written permission.
ANONYMITY OF PATIENTS AND INFORMED CONSENT
Authors are obliged to guarantee the anonymity of patients. Information like names, initials, hospital stays etc. should be estranged in a way that conceals the patient’s real identity. Furthermore, authors need to ask for the patient’s permission if they wish to use results from experimental research or psychotherapy. Patients – including children – have to give their informed consent before being examined. Authors should be able to present declarations of consent at any time.
PEER-REVIEW
Authors are obliged to participate in the peer-review process (Double-blind-Peer-review) and to cooperate with reviewers and editors as well as editors-in-chief. Authors should be able to answer the editor’s questions regarding raw data, explanations, proof of ethical approaches, declarations of consent and copyright law. Authors should respond systematically and on time so that they are able to meet the deadline.
FUNDAMENTAL ERRORS IN PUBLISHED WORKS
When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author’s obligation to promptly notify the journal’s editor-in-chief or publisher and cooperate with them to either retract the paper or to publish an appropriate erratum. If a third party informs the editorial staff about an error, editors are obliged to correct this error promptly, to retract the article or to prove its correctness.