In preparing manuscripts, authors should follow the specific instructions listed below (these are also available online at: www.ectrx.org). Manuscripts that do not adhere to these guidelines will be returned to the author without consideration.
MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION
Experimental and Clinical Transplantation accepts original articles, case reports, reviews, and letters to the editor.
Manuscripts must be submitted via Manuscript Central
at http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ect.
A mandatory Financial Disclosure, Copyright Transfer, and Ethical Conduct Form is to be completed by the submitting author. The form can be downloaded from Manuscript Central during the online submission process. The manuscript will be assigned for peer review and editorial evaluation ONLY after this form has been submitted.
Experimental and Clinical Transplantation is a member of COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) and requires all authors to adhere to the principles outlined in their International Standards for Authors:*
*Wager E, Kleinert S. (2011) Responsible research publication: international standards for authors. A position statement developed at the 2nd World Conference on Research Integrity, Singapore, July 22-24, 2010. Chapter 50 in: Mayer T & Steneck N, eds. Promoting Research Integrity in a Global Environment. Singapore: Imperial College Press / World Scientific Publishing; 2011:309-16.
There is no page limit for original articles, but authors are urged to be as concise as possible.
For case reports, the text (excluding Figures, Tables, Legends, and References) should be a succinct description of no more than 1500 words, and should include no more than 3 Figures that emphasize elements of the case, including methodology used. Only generic names of drugs should be used throughout the text. Drugs, instruments, or equipment should be identified by the manufacturer's name in parentheses following the item, and procedures should be described in sufficient detail to allow other investigators to reproduce the results. When describing pharmaceutical interventions, include the dosage regimen in parentheses after the drug name.
Abbreviations
Except for expressing units of measurement, the use of abbreviations is discouraged. To introduce an abbreviation, on first mention in the text the full term should be spelled out, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. Abbreviations must not be used in the Abstract or the manuscript title.
AAWP: Avoid Abbreviations Whenever Possible. The added length of spelling out words is more than compensated for by the increased readability when words are spelled out. Idiosyncratic abbreviations make text particularly difficult to read. Abbreviations widely used within a narrow discipline can make a manuscript uninterpretable to the interested reader from outside that discipline.
Do not create new or unusual abbreviations. For example, if your paper refers to the paw pressure test, just call it the paw pressure test throughout the paper, not the PPT.
Write as you speak. You would call an electrocardiogram an ECG, so it is acceptable to abbreviate it as ECG. However, spell out words if there is any possible ambiguity.
For additional information on proper use of medical abbreviations, refer to the Council of Biology Editors Style Manual, Fifth Edition (Bethesda, MD: Council of Biology Editors, 1983).
Units of Measurement
All measurements must be listed in SI units. Conventional units may be shown in parentheses after the SI units. Temperatures must be expressed in degrees Celsius (°C).
As a guide, authors should follow the requirements set forth in the American Medical Association Manual of Style, 10th Edition.
Text Style: Manuscripts must be typed on A4 paper in double-spaced format, using 12-point Times New Roman font, with ample margins at the top, bottom, and sides of each page. Type the text flush left. Enter only 1 space between words and between sentences. For line breaks within a paragraph, use the automatic wrap-around feature of your word processor. Do not place a line break (ie, do not press the "Enter" button) at the end of any sentence within a paragraph. Ensure that the hyphenation option is switched off. Leave 1 blank line (press "Enter" twice) between heading and text. Begin each new paragraph with a tab indent. Number pages consecutively, with the Title Page as page 1. Type the page number in the upper right-hand corner of each page. Papers must be written in English, and authors are urged to aim for clarity, brevity, and accuracy of information and language. Authors whose first language is not English should have their papers checked for linguistic accuracy by a native English speaker.
Title Page:
This page of the manuscript should contain a concise and informative title comprising no more than 200 characters. List the authors' (10 maximum) full names and affiliations. If the authors are affiliated with more than 1 institution, indicate the appropriate information using a superscripted Arabic numeral to match each author's name with that of the author’s department and institution. State any name disclaimers that apply. Indicate the name, mailing address, telephone, fax number, and e-mail address of the corresponding author. Grants and/or financial support for the work should be noted in a statement on this page.
Abstract:
A structured Abstract is required for original articles only. The Abstract cannot exceed 300 words, and should include 4 sections with the following subheadings:
Nonstandard abbreviations, references, and footnotes should not be used. Three-to-five key words that do not appear on the Title Page should be included on the Abstract page. It is recommended that authors consult the Medical Subject Headings section of the National Library of Medicine (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/MBrowser.html).
Main Text:
The text of original articles should follow the Abstract and include the following sections: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, References, Tables, and Figure Legends. Figures, themselves, must be uploaded as separate files.
The Introduction should appear without a heading. It should be concise and present relevant background information.
The Materials and Methods section should contain a statement indicating that all protocols, experimental studies, and clinical trials involving human subjects were approved by the ethics committee of the institution before the study began, and that the protocols conformed to the ethical guidelines of the 1975 Helsinki Declaration. It also must be stated that written informed consent was obtained from patients or their guardians. Individual patients should be identified by number rather than by initials. For animal studies, it must be stated that, before the study, all protocols were approved by the institution's animal welfare regulatory committee, and/or all protocols were in conformity with the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals published by the National Institutes of Health 86-23, revised in 1985.
Authors are responsible for any false statements, and for failure to fulfill the above-mentioned requirements.
References
The reference style for Experimental and Clinical Transplantation is that set forth in the American Medical Association Manual of Style, 10th Edition. In-text citations should use Arabic superscripted numerals outside periods and commas, and inside colons and semicolons. They should be numbered consecutively throughout the text. The same system applies for references that are cited in a Table or Figure. Journal names (as listed in the January issue of Index Medicus for each year) and unpublished works and/or data should not be used as references, although written communications may be noted as such in the text. References cited as "in-press" must have been accepted for publication at the time the manuscript is submitted; they must not be in preparation or awaiting acceptance. Full pagination must be included. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the references, and must verify them against the original document. Experimental and Clinical Transplantation limits the amount of references in Reviews to 75, in Original Articles to 50, and in Case Reports to 15. Authors who do not follow this style will have their manuscripts returned to them unread. The following styles are required:
Journal Articles: The names of all authors should be given unless there are more than 6, in which case the names of the first 3 authors are used, followed by “et al.” Rainer S, Thomas D, Tokarz D, et al. Myofibrillogenesis regulator 1 gene mutations cause paroxysmal dystonic choreoathetosis. Arch Neurol. 2004;61(7):1025-1029.
Book Chapters: Solensky R. Drug allergy: desensitization and treatment of reactions to antibiotics and aspirin. In: Lockey P, ed. Allergens and Allergen Immunotherapy. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Marcel Dekker; 2004:585-606.
Entire Books: Venables WN, Ripley BD. Modern Applied Statistics With S. 4th ed. New York, NY: Springer Publishing Co; 2003.
Tables should be self-explanatory and should supplement, not duplicate, the text. They should be placed after the Reference section. Do not submit Tables as photographs. Each Table should appear on a separate page, and be accompanied by a brief double-spaced Table legend. The text within the Table should also be double-spaced. Each Table must be cited in consecutive numerical order in the text, and should be identified with an Arabic numeral following the word "Table." Place a horizontal line below the legend, below the column headings, and at the end of the Table. Do not use vertical lines. To place text beneath a column heading, use a tab(s), not a space(s). Place explanatory matter in footnotes, not in the Table legend. Use appropriate symbols (eg, *, †, ‡, §, ||, ¶, #, **, ††, ‡‡) to designate footnotes. The footnotes for each Table should contain expanded versions of all abbreviations used in the Table contents, and should identify statistical measures of variation, such as standard deviation and standard error of the mean. If dates pertaining to other published sources (copyrighted material used) are noted in the Table, the author must obtain written permission from the publisher and the original author(s), and acknowledge this fully in a footnote or in an addition to the legend. Below each Table, provide a key with the abbreviations used in that Table, followed by its meaning, for example: “ECG, electro-cardiogram; MMF, mycophenolate mofetil.”
Supplemental materials, including appendices, supplemental tables and figures, and supplemental videos, are not allowed and are not published or linked to your article after publication. If the supplemental materials are only included for peer review purposes, please delete them before final submission, as well as their mention in the text. Supplemental tables and figures can be converted into regular tables and figures. However, please avoid supplemental materials, in general.
Number Figures as Figure 1, Figure 2, and refer to all of them in the text. Figures must be created with a computer program and submitted in their original formats.
Legends and notes should be included in the article file and NOT in the Figure itself. Below each Figure, provide a key with the abbreviations used in that Figure, followed by its meaning, for example: “ECG, electrocardiogram; MMF, mycophenolate mofetil.”
Upload Figures separately from the text (Figure files should not be integrated with the text files).
Vector graphics exported from a drawing program should be stored in EPS format only.
Guidelines for Electronically Produced Figures/Illustrations
For production of the Figures/Illustrations of an accepted manuscript, the Baskent University production department requires electronically produced Figures to be saved in EPS (Encapsulated PostScript), PDF (Portable Document Format), or TIFF (Tag Image File Format) format. Most drawing programs (eg, Adobe Illustrator, Deneba Canvas, CorelDraw) have a save-as-EPS option in their Save dialog box. Other information about EPS can be found at the Adobe Web site.
Spreadsheet/Presentation Graphics: Most presentation programs (Excel, PowerPoint, and Freelance) produce data that cannot be stored in an EPS or TIFF format. Therefore, graphics produced by these programs cannot be used for reproduction.
Halftone Illustrations: Black and white and color Figures and Illustrations should be saved in EPS or TIFF format. Figures and Illustrations should be created using Adobe Photoshop whenever possible.
Scans: Scanned reproductions of black and white photographs should be provided as 300 ppi EPS or TIFF files. Scanned color Illustrations should be provided as EPS or TIFF files scanned at a minimum of 300 ppi with a 24-bit color depth.Line art should be provided as EPS or TIFF files at 600 ppi.
Figure Legends
The Figure legends should be typed in double-spaced format on a separate page following any Tables, with each Figure numbered and listed in the order it appears in the text. For Figures with multiple parts, each part must be identified by a letter following the Figure number (eg, 3A, 3B, 3C) and be clearly described in the legend. Any letter designations or arrows that appear in the Figure should be described fully. If any previously published Figure material is used, authors must obtain written permission from the publisher to reprint. The source of the original material must be cited in the reference list and in the Figure legend.
All permission releases must be submitted to the Editor at the time of manuscript submission.
Proofs will be sent to the author (corresponding /first-named) by PDF for final proof reading and appropriate corrections and should be returned via Manuscript Central within 48 hours of receipt. Major changes such as deleting, shortening, amending sentences, Figures and Tables in the manuscript are not acceptable. Only minor corrections (eg, typesetting errors) will be considered without extra cost.
Orders for offprints may be placed in the appropriate form accompanying the corrected proofs, or by contacting the Editorial Office