Submissions

Author Guidelines

Instructions for Authors

The Revista Ciencias de la Salud, official dissemination body of the School of Health Sciences of the Universidad del Rosario University, follows the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, elaborated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Directors (http://www.icmje.org/urm_main.html). For this reason, all manuscripts submitted to our Journal, are initially reviewed by the Editorial Committee, in order to ensure the observance of the guidelines established in the agreement and in this document. The Journal publishes manuscripts founded in any discipline related to the —basic or clinical— health field. However, a higher relevance is put on quantitative studies of analytical design, to quantitative studies such as ethnographies, life stories, and supported theses, as well as to those related to diagnostic and epidemiologic methods. 

Works must be unpublished; in other words, the article or part of it or its content, tables, or figures must not have been published nor must it be undergoing the publication process in a different journal. Its subsequent publication or its total or partial reproduction must be authorized by the editor, giving credit to the original publication in the journal. If the article has been published in a different country, in its original language or in a different language, it may be accepted for publication, provided the editors of both journals authorize the author to do so.

Works must be submitted through the journal’s Open Journal Systems (OJS) platform (https://revistas.urosario.edu.co/index.php/revsalud/about/submissions); it is advisable to send a copy to the institutional email address rev.cienc.salud@urosario.edu.co. The format requested is as follows: Microsoft Word®, Times New Roman, 12 point font, double-line spacing, Letter size, and 3x3 cm margins.

A letter signed by all authors must be attached, expressly stating that the work has been read and approved by all of them. It must also indicate the section wherein it must be published, declaring the name, email address, and phone number of the corresponding author (check format: Click to download). The main author must save copies of all materials sent.

Articles will be subject to a double-blind peer review conducted by experts in the subject matter, unbiased against the editorial staff or the authors. This process is anonymous and confidential.

All articles presenting research conducted on human beings must follow the ethical standards issued by the Declaration of Helsinki and Resolution 8430 of 1993 of the Colombian Ministry of Health. In case of animal research, Law 84 of 1989 must be considered in addition to explicitly referring to the use of the appropriate measures implemented to mitigate pain. In either case, approval of the Research Ethics Committee from the institution where research was conducted is essential. Participant confidentiality and anonymity must be preserved; hence, the use of identifying data is not allowed.

 

The journal comprises the following sections: Clinical or experimental research articles: empirical or epidemiological studies addressing health issues, rehabilitation, clinical psychology, or research in basic sciences. Research articles on social health studies: research dealing with health problems on the basis of social science theories and methods in an interdisciplinary way (history, sociology, anthropology, philosophy, cultural science, and gender studies). Review articles: critical studies and analyses of recent literature relevant to a given subject, together with author perspective regarding the matter. It must include an extensive literature review with at least 50 references. Reflection papers: works wherein the author expresses their analytical, interpretative, or critical opinion regarding a topic associated with the health sciences, expounding current problems in this respect. Case studies: clinical cases of interest or of low incidence in the health area are set out. It must contain an introduction, the case report, and a discussion section. Letters to the editor: Brief comments no longer than 400 words, and including up to five references, with regard to a given work published in the journal or as part of reports of general interest in the health field.

 

The manuscript must be structured as follows: title page, abstract, and keywords in English, Spanish (resumen, palabras clave), and Portuguese (resumo, palavras-chave), text body (according to article type), acknowledgment, disclaimers, bibliography, and complete tables, figures, and charts. Pages need to be numbered in consecutive order, beginning with the title page, in the upper-right-hand corner.

• Title page

This page consists of a) the article title (in Spanish, English, and Portuguese); b) the first name(s) and last name(s) of each author, their post-nominal initials (i.e., MD, MSc, and PhD), and their institutional affiliation (not including the authors’ specializations); c) the name and email address of the corresponding author related to the manuscript; and d) the ORCID code of each author.

Authorship. As established by the “Uniform requirements,” for an individual to be considered the author of a given work, they must have made substantial contributions to each of the following aspects: a) its approach and design, acquisition of information, or data analysis and interpretation; b) article planning or revision of significant intellectual content; and c) final approval of the version to be published. “Courtesy authorship” is unacceptable. For instance, although sample contribution and patient recruitment are essential tasks for research, they do not constitute authorship by themselves. A mention in the Acknowledgment section will be enough for this kind of contribution. Therefore, each author must specify the type of contribution they made to the work.

• Abstract/keywords, resumen/palabras clave and resumo/palavras-chave

The abstract must be concise, written in an impersonal style, being no longer than 250 words, and divided into the following sections. Clinical or experimental research articles and review articles: Introduction (including the work’s objectives); Materials and methods; Results; and Discussion. Research articles on social health studies and reflection papers: Introduction, Development, and Conclusions. Case presentation: Introduction, Case report, and Discussion.

Keywords (3–10) must immediately follow the abstract. The terms selected must be included in the suggestions from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) or the Health Science Descriptors (DeCS) lists. In case of recently introduced terms that are listed in neither the MeSH nor the DeCS, common expressions are allowed. The social health studies section requires using the terms included in UNESCO’s Thesaurus.

• Text

Its development and structure depends on the type of work and section the text is intended to cover. The manuscript must be as concise as possible. The use of idioms, medical jargon, regionalisms, and any idiomatic variation against the proper use of language must be avoided. Formulas and mathematical expressions must be in line with the International System of Units, and the use of abbreviations is not recommended, except measurement units. When using abbreviations or acronyms, the words they stand for must be written in full and precede them the first time these are mentioned in the text.

Clinical or experimental research articles and review articles must never be longer than seven thousand words, without including tables and bibliographic references. These should be structured as follows: 1) Introduction: the work’s objective is established, and the reasons for its study or analysis are summarized. 2) Materials and methods: the elements and procedures used are fully described so that results can be reproduced. This section must define the type of statistical analysis that has been employed. Mentioning ethical considerations and obtaining approval from the institution’s committee of ethics are essential. 3) Results: presented in logical order; data from charts or pictures must not be repeated. 4) Discussion: the new and significant study aspects, the conclusions arising from them, and the results’ implications are highlighted. These remarks must be related to other relevant studies.

For research articles in social health studies, the text must never exceed 7000 words, without including tables and bibliographic references. The article must be divided into the following sections. (1) Introduction: the problem and state of research in the topic is briefly expounded, the hypothesis or research problem is posed, and the article’s structure is presented. (2) Development: the arguments and relevant discussions are made, dividing them into thematic subsections. (3) Conclusions: the results are briefly summarized, and their possible implications for the state of research are analyzed.

Reflection papers must never be longer than 7000 words, without including tables and bibliographic references. The article must be divided into the following sections. (1) Introduction: the problem to be reflected upon or the critical or discussion points are briefly mentioned. (2) Development: the arguments and relevant discussions are made. (3) Conclusions: the possible implications of the problem raised are summarized and assessed in this section.

Case presentations must never be longer than 5000 words, without including tables and bibliographic references, and should be structured as follows: (1) Introduction: the work’s objective is established, and the reasons for its study or analysis are summarized. (2) Case presentation: a concise section describing the most relevant aspects (which can be supplemented with laboratory tests, pictures, and other tests). Its writing style must be narrative, rather than telegraphic. (3) Discussion: the information published in the literature that aids in case conceptualization are detailed and discussed.

• Acknowledgments

This section will include contributions that deserve appreciation but do not merit authorship, such as the general support given by a department manager or the assistance received from scientific advisors, reviewers, data collectors, typists, etc.

If the subject has been presented at a meeting, its nature, city, and presentation date must be stated.

• Disclaimer

The authors’ opinions are their sole responsibility and shall never represent the journal’s views. A paragraph including the disclaimer and information about funding sources (such as any contribution made by Colciencias or Banco de la República, the pharmaceutical industry, the supplier of any equipment, drug, instrument, etc.), if any, is mandatory.

• Bibliography

Revista de Ciencias de la Salud suggests citing at least two Colombian or Latin American references. References are identified by Arabic numerals in parenthesis at the end of the sentence or paragraph they are cited in, numbered in order of appearance. The diagram, reference punctuation, and journal title must follow the formats used by the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/). The journal’s name must be written together with its accepted abbreviation (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals). Given the impossibility of tracing articles, dissertations, abstracts, conference presentations, or other unpublished works, these will not be accepted as references. When available, the DOI number needs to be included.

The following examples illustrate how references must be written:

Journal articles (please list the first six authors, followed by “et al.”)

Leatemia LD, Susilo AP, van Berkel H. Self-directed learning readiness of Asian students: students perspective on a hybrid problem based learning curriculum. Int J Med Educ. 2016;7:385-92. doi: 10.5116/ijme.582e.021b.

Johnson S, Clayton J, Butow PN, Silvester W, Detering K, Hall J, et al. Advance care planning in patients with incurable cancer: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial. BMJ Open. 2016;6(12):e012387. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2016-012387.

Books and other monographs

Ringsven MK, Bond D. Gerontology and leadership skills for nurses. 2nd ed. Albany (NY): Delmar Publishers; 1996.

Phillips SJ, Whisnant JP. Hypertension and stroke. En: Laragh JH, Brenner BM, editors. Hypertension: pathophysiology, diagnosis, and management. 2nd ed. New York: Raven Press; 1995. p. 465-78.

• Tables and figures

A maximum of five tables and figures will be allowed. Tables and charts are referred to as tables and use Arabic numbers in their order of appearance. Titles must be placed at the top of each one, while the source and notes are included at the bottom. Unit symbols need to be placed at the column heading. Only