JOURNAL OF HOSPITAL GENERAL MEDICINE Submission Guidelines

Submission Guidelines

1．Qualification

Contributors do not need to be a member of the Japanese Society of Hospital General Medicine. For non-members there is a publication charge of 5,000 yen per page.

2．Readers

Journal of Hospital General Medicine is a peer-reviewed journal published by Japanese Society of Hospital General Medicine. The academic area covered by this journal includes a wide range of topics related to general hospital medicine. Our readers are mainly Japanese Society of Hospital General Medicine members, most of whom are doctors from a wide variety of departments who work in community medical institutions and university hospitals, thus they are not usually specialists in the research or clinical field of the paper.

3．Content of the submitted manuscript

The posted papers should contribute to the lifelong education of Japanese Society of Hospital General Medicine members and be unpublished original works, case reports, reviews, special contributions, case briefs, research briefs, or key images.

4．Posting Method

a. Submit your manuscript through the online submission system.

b. Please upload cover page description (authors names and affiliation, etc.), manuscript for submission (including figures and tables) and pledge form, and submit them. To submit the agreement form, download it from online, sign it, convert it to PDF, then upload it to the submission system.

c. Submitted papers should be checked by person with extensive experience in proofreading papers written in English.

d. Manuscript should be double spaced with 12-point lettering on A4 paper. All pages should be numbered. Please use a data format with a standard font from a widely used software application such as Microsoft Word.

e. Upload tables saved as Word (doc, docx), Exel (xls, xlsx), or PowerPoint (ppt, pptx).

f. For figures and photos, upload clear ones that can be printed as they are saved in PDF, ppt, pptx, or jpg format. The figures (photographs) and tables will be published in black and white unless you specify on the cover page that you would like to have them printed in color. If adjustments to color photographs are required, they will be charged at the actual cost.

5．Manuscript Procedure

A. Manuscript Guidelines
1. All papers
Double spaced with 12-point lettering on A4 paper.

2.Manuscript Guidelines
1) Original Articles
Should contain new findings obtained by a method with high scientific validity.
Write the Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions as separate sections.
・The title should be in both English and Japanese.
・The paper should be 15 pages or less.
・Attach an English abstract of up to 200 words and a Japanese abstract of up to 400 letters.
・You may use up to 20 references.
2) Case Reports
Should be interesting and important clinical cases.
Write the Introduction, Case, Clinical Course, Discussion, and Conclusions as separate sections.
・The title should be in both English and Japanese.
・The report should be 8 pages or less (excluding references).
・Attach an English abstract of up to 200 words and a Japanese abstract of up to 400 words.
・You may use up to 20 references.
3) Reviews
Comprehensive discussion of medical issues or diseases.
・The title should be in both English and Japanese.
・The review should be15 pages or less (excluding references).
・Attach an English abstract of up to 200 words and a Japanese abstract of up to 400 words.
・You may use up to 20 references.
4) Special Contributions
A comprehensive discussion of medical issues. It should not be simply opinions, but a scientifically and theoretically described paper. Reports may be on innovative research and scientific achievements (preliminary results are acceptable), grounded opinions, and ideas useful for general hospital medical care activities. This space can be used to widely announce activities that would be of interest to our members. The only standard is content that we feel is sufficiently useful to our members.
・The title should be in both English and Japanese.
・The review should be 8 pages or less (excluding references). and can include up to 5 charts.
・Attach an English abstract of up to 200 words and a Japanese abstract of up to 400 words.
・You may use up to 15 references.
5) Short Original Articles
Should be new findings.
・The title should be in both English and Japanese.
・The manuscript should be 4 pages or less (excluding references) and can include up to 2 charts.
・Attach an English abstract of up to 200 words and a Japanese abstract of up to 400 words.
・You may use up to 10 references.
6) Short Case Reports
Should be interesting and important clinical cases.
・The title should be in both English and Japanese.
・The report should be 3 pages or less (excluding references) and include up to 2 charts.
・Attach a Japanese abstract of up to 400 words.
・You may use up to 5 references.
7) Letters To The Editor
Freely written opinions such as questions about the papers published in this journal and information obtained from the members’ daily medical care and research activities.
・The letter should be 3 pages or less (including references). No charts can be included.
・Abstracts and key words are not necessary.
8)Key Images
Educational images (patient symptoms, X-rays, other laboratory findings, autopsy findings, histological findings, etc.) that are especially useful for diagnosis or the understanding of pathology.
・A brief explanation should be included with the photograph.
・The contents should have deep meaning for the readers.
・The text (commentary) may be up to 400 words, including documents, and one to four photos can be included.
・The title should be in both English and Japanese.
・No abstract is required.
・You may use up to 3 references.

6．Please include the following

①Cover letter

・Title (English/Japanese)
・Corresponding author(s) (English/Japanese)
・Name of Institution (English/Japanese)
・Keywords
・Running title
・Color publication of figures and tables is available upon request (the fee is cost of author’s own)
・Certification number from the ethics committee of the research institution
(if necessary)
・Key words(in English, lower case and singular.:
Original papers should not exceed five key words. Case reports,
short reports, and short case reports should not exceed three key words.
・Running title: 20 characters max. for Japanese/ 40 characters max.for English, including spaces.

②Text

・In principle, the name of a drug should be written as the generic name. If necessary, the trade name should be written in parentheses ( ).
・Abbreviations should be avoided as much as possible except for terms in common use. Example: human leukocyte antigen (HLA)
・Special technical terms should be explained in the form of footnotes.
・Numbers should be in units of arithmetic digits (1,2,3), and quantities in units such as m, cm, mm, Kg, g, min, sec, ml Kcal, ℃, etc.
・If the content involves the administration of unapproved drugs or medical technology, this should be clearly stated in the text.

③ Figures and Tables

(1) Figures and tables should be prepared with their visual effect in mind.
(2) Reprinted or modified figures and tables must be approved by the original author or publisher. Please be sure to indicate the source (reference).
(3) Each figure and table should be pasted on a separate sheet of paper, and each should be numbered and titled in the order in which they appear, i.e., Figure 1, Table 1, etc. (No distinction is made between figures and photographs.
(4) Schematic diagrams should be original and clearly drawn by the authors.
(5) Photographs should not be reproduced or copied from printed materials.
(6) When showing the findings of radiography, ultrasonography, or other imaging, a brief schema and explanation should be attached. In micrographs, be sure to indicate the magnification.
(7) Figures and tables should be clearly indicated in the text.

④Literature

(1) References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are used and should be listed together at the end of the text.
(2) In principle, abbreviations of journals should conform to the “Index Medicus”
(3) Up to three authors may be listed, with the fourth and after listed as “et al”.
(4) Listing of items and order
Citations should be numbered sequentially in square brackets at the end of the cited passage and added to the reference list at the end of the text in the order in which they are cited.

[In the Case of a Journal] Author(s). Title of article. Year of publication; Volume: Pages (first to last).
[In the Case of a Book] Author(s). Book title (edition number), publisher, address of publisher, year of publication; pages cited (first – last).
[Series, etc.] Author(s). Partial title of the author(s). Editor’s name. series name, volume number, place of publication, year of publication; pages cited (first – last).
[Examples] 1) Hayashi J, Furusyo N, Ariyama I, et al. A relationship between the evolution of hepatitis C virus variants, liver damage, and hepatocellular carcinoma in patients with hepatis C viremia. J Infect Dis 2000; 181:1523-7.
2) Carpenter MB, Sutin J. Human neuroanatomy.8th ed, Williams & Wilkins, London,1983;p.103-4.
3) Meldrum BS, Corsellis JAN. Epilepsy. In: Adams JH, Corsellis JAN, editors.
Greenfield’s neuropathology. 4th ed. London: 1984, p.921-50.

7．Review of Submitted Manuscripts

(1) Submitted manuscripts will be carefully and rigorously reviewed by the Editorial Board. The results will be further reviewed by the same committee and a decision will be made on acceptance or rejection. As a result of the review, the Editorial Committee may make additions or revisions to the manuscript.
(2) The results of the review will be notified to the corresponding author.

8．Return of Submitted Manuscripts

As a rule, they will not be returned.

9．Reviewed papers

Revision by the author(s) in accordance with the reviewer’s comments is required. The return date must be strictly observed. The Editorial Board will then do a final review..

10．Copyright

The copyright of all articles published in this journal belongs to the Japanese Society of Hospital General Medicine. The consent of the society is required for the use of all or part of the articles before publication in other journals.

11．Code of Ethics

(1) Research papers submitted to this journal must comply with the requirements of the Declaration of Helsinki, the Standards for the Care and Keeping of Laboratory Animals (Prime Minister’s Office Notification No.6, March 1980), and other research guidelines established at each research facility. If approval has been obtained from the ethics committee of your research institution, this should be stated in the paper.
(2) When presenting cases, sufficient care should be taken to protect the privacy of the patient.
(3) For off-label drug administration, explain that the drug was off-label at the time of administration and describe the patient’s consent and in-hospital procedures.

12．Conflict of Interest

When submitting a paper for publication to the Journal of Hospital General Medicine, the authors must clearly state at the end of the text whether or not they have any association with a company or other entity that might present a conflict of interest.
All authors are required to report any possible conflicts of interest. Regardless of whether or not there is a conflict of interest, the first author should register the “Conflict of Interest Disclosure Statement” online on behalf of the all the authors.

13．Publication Fee

There is no publication fee for members. For non-members there is a publication charge of 5,000 yen per page. The number of copies required should be specified at the time of final submission. Please refer to the price list for the cost of printing. The Editorial Committee will send an invoice for the fee.
The number of reprints should be specified when the galley proof is returned by the authors. Please see the fee schedule below. The Editorial Committee will send an invoice for the charges.

14．Color Printing Fee

20,000 yen (excluding tax) per paper.
(No charge for black-and-white printing.)
The Editorial Board will send an invoice for the color printing fee.

Please note the following:

(1) Papers for publication in the Journal of the Japanese Society of Hospital General Practitioners as original (research) are acceptable as long as they summarize findings obtained through research conducted by the authors, even if they are not the world’s first discoveries.
Case reports do not have to be about particularly rare cases. They can be about cases experienced in daily medical practice that have been written from an academic or educational perspective.
(2) Paper format notes:
Before submitting your paper, please ensure compliance with the submission rules and have it checked by a co-author or a senior physician.
(3) Resubmitting papers
Carefully read the reviewers’ comments and reply fully to their major comments when resubmitting your paper. For each of the minor comments in the bulleted list, write a response to each comment that includes the specific changes you have made. Please highlight your changes in red.