Guidelines for Authors
www.karger.com/mpp_guidelines
 Mission Statement
Objectives
Submission
Conditions
Arrangement
Color Illustrations
References
Page Charges
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
NIH-Funded Research, Self-Archiving
Proofs
Reprints
 Electronic Submission
Mission Statement
MPP, the journal of the Kuwait University Health Sciences Centre aims to be a publication of international repute that serves as a medium for dissemination and exchange of scientific knowledge in the health sciences.
Objectives
1. To publish original research in the health sciences.
2. To publish peer-reviewed articles of current international interest in the form of papers, solicited reviews, case reports, short communications, conference proceedings, discussion forums and letters.
Submission
Manuscripts, written in English, can be submitted electronically as an e-mail attachment to
mpp@hsc.edu.kw
Alternatively, three copies of manuscripts, written in English, with three sets of illustrations (final high-resolution pictures need only be sent after acceptance of the paper) together with a soft copy on disc, should be submitted to one of the addresses below (for details please refer to Electronic Submission):
Prof. Azu Owunwanne
Editor-in-Chief, Medical Principles and Practice
Faculty of Medicine
Kuwait University
PO Box 24923
13110 Safat (Kuwait)
Tel. +965 2534 0479 or 2498 6680
Fax +965 2533 3094
Editor, Medical Principles and Practice
S. Karger AG
Allschwilerstrasse 10, PO Box
CH–4009 Basel (Switzerland)
Editor, Medical Principles and Practice
S. Karger Publishers, Inc.
26 West Avon Road, PO Box 529
Farmington, CT 06085 (USA)
One set of the illustrations must be original. Manuscripts will not be accepted by facsimile.
All manuscripts should be accompanied by a cover letter from the author responsible for correspondence for the manuscript. Manuscripts are received with the explicit understanding that they are not under simultaneous consideration by any other journal and has not been previously published.
The corresponding author must affirm that all co-investigators have been duly credited in the manuscript either as co-authors or in the acknowledgement section. To meet the criteria of authorship, it is necessary to have taken a significant part in the overall conception and design of the research or to have participated in the acquisition, analysis and interpretation of data as well as having written initial drafts of the manuscript, revised and contributed to the final manuscript. Simply having been a part of the research group or having contributed to data collection or provided patients or analysis of tests is not sufficient in and of itself to satisfy the criteria for authorship.
Manuscripts must comply with the ethical standards recommended by the Helsinki Declaration. The editors realize that the use of anesthetics, analgesics and tranquilizers would defeat the purpose of some animal experiments. However, the use of painful or otherwise noxious stimuli must be carefully and thoroughly justified in the manuscript.
Submission of an article for consideration for publication implies the transfer of the copyright from the author to the publisher upon acceptance.
Review Procedure
All submitted manuscripts are examined by the editorial staff for adequacy of documentation, composition and adherence to the guidelines of MPP. Manuscripts not submitted in accordance with these guidelines will be returned to the author for correction before beginning the review process. The manuscripts that are considered suitable for review are sent to at least two reviewers for evaluation. All reviews are conducted confidentially. The reviewers are asked to assess the
originality, scientific merit, design of the study including statistical analysis, professional interest and the overall quality of the manuscript. The reviewers may recommend accept as is or with revision. It is unusual for a manuscript to be accepted without revision. Two copies of the revised manuscript are returned to the Editor-in-Chief for further processing.
All accepted manuscripts are subject to editing for clarity, accuracy and style. All authors of accepted manuscripts are required to sign the Assignment of Copyright Agreement to consign the copyright of their paper to the publisher. Accepted manuscripts become the property of MPP and may not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the written consent of the publisher.
Arrangement
Title page: The first page of each paper should indicate the title, the authors’ names, the institution where the work was conducted, and a short title for use as running head.
NB: Authors wishing to preserve the phonetic meaning of diacritics (PubMed reduces diacritics to their root characters) must spell their names accordingly when submitting manuscripts (e.g. Müller should be Mueller).
Full address: The exact postal address of the corresponding author complete with postal code must be given at the bottom of the title page. Please also supply phone and fax numbers, as well as e-mail address.
Key words: For indexing purposes, a list of 3–10 key words.
Abstract: The abstract should be structured and not exceed 250 words. The abstract should include four clearly identifiable areas of content: Objective (the rationale and importance of the study), Materials/Subjects and Methods (description of the materials, animals or subjects, basic design, procedures and the analytical techniques), Results (major findings), Conclusion (significant implication of the finding).
For Case Reports, the abstract should include: Objective, Clinical Presentation and Intervention, and Conclusion.
Text: Manuscripts are typed double-spaced on one side of A4 paper, with 3-cm margins and limited to approximately 16 pages in length including references, tables and figures. Generic names should be used. MPP discourages the use of acronyms. The first time an abbreviated name or symbol is used, the full word or name of the item that is being abbreviated should precede it.
The text of an original laboratory or clinical investigation should comprise of Introduction and Objective, Materials and Methods (laboratory investigations) or Subjects and Methods (clinical investigations), Results, Discussion, Conclusion, References, Tables, Figure legends and Figures. Scientific measurements should be given in SI units.
Any statistical procedure used should be either described in detail or supported by references.
The text of Short Communications should follow the above outline, and is limited to 5 manuscript pages (about 1,000 words) including references, tables and figures. Please provide a maximum of 7 references and 1 table or figure.
The text of Case Reports should comprise Introduction and Objective, Clinical Presentation and Intervention, Discussion including importance of the case reported, and Conclusion. No more than 12 references should be cited.
Reviews are generally solicited, should be of current interest and not more than 35 pages in length including references, tables and figures.
Letters should be comments on previously published articles or issues of interest to the public. They should be brief, concise and to the point. Letters commenting on previously published articles should be received within 1 year of the publication of the said article. All letters are subject to editing.
Acknowledgement: Please provide on a separate page if applicable.
Tables and illustrations: Tables and figures should be numbered using Arabic numerals. Prepare each table or figure on a separate page. Tables require a heading while figures require a legend. The legend should be prepared on a separate page. Only good drawings and original photographs will be accepted; negatives or photocopies will be rejected. Due to technical reasons, figures with a screen background should not be submitted.
When possible, group several figures in one block for reproduction (max. size 180 x 223 mm) or provide crop marks. On the back of each figure, write its number, the author’s name and ‘top’ with a soft pencil. Electronically submitted b/w half-tone and color illustrations must have a final resolution of 300 dpi after scaling, line drawings one of 800–1,200 dpi. Photomicrographs should be calibrated on the print by adding a calibration bar (e.g. – = 1 µm). Any labeling should be done on copies and not on the prints. Patients shown in photographs should have their identity concealed or should give their written consent to publication. If any tables or figures that are submitted have been published elsewhere, written consent for republication should be obtained by the author from the holders of the copyright (usually the authors and publishers).
Color Illustrations
Online edition: Color illustrations are reproduced free of charge. In the print version, the illustrations are reproduced in black and white. Please avoid referring to the colors in the text and figure legends.
Print edition: Up to 6 color illustrations per page can be integrated within the text at CHF 760.00 per page.
References
In the text, identify references by Arabic numerals [in square brackets]. Manuscripts accepted for publication but not yet published may be cited but must be referred to as ‘in press’. The name of the journal and year must be listed.
Number the references according to the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. Write the last names of the authors followed by initials. There should be no punctuation other than a comma to separate the authors. Preferably, please cite all authors. Abbreviate journal names according to the Index Medicus system. (Also see International Committee of Medical Journal Editors: Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. N Engl J Med 1997;336:309–315. www.icmje.org)
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Examples
(a) Papers published in periodicals:
Chatel J-M, Bernard H, Orson FM: Isolation and characterization of two complete Ara h 2 isoforms cDNA. Int Arch Allergy Immunol 2003;131:14–18.
(b) Papers published only with DOI numbers:
Theoharides TC, Boucher W, Spear K: Serum interleukin-6 reflects disease severity and osteoporosis in mastocytosis patients. Int Arch Allergy Immunol DOI: 10.1159/000063858.
(c) Monographs:
Matthews DE, Farewell VT: Using and Understanding Medical Statistics,
ed 3, revised. Basel, Karger, 1996.
(d) Edited books:
DuBois RN: Cyclooxygenase-2 and colorectal cancer; in Dannenberg AJ, Dubois RN (eds): COX-2. Prog Exp Tum Res. Basel, Karger, 2003, vol 37, pp 124–137.
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Reference Management Software: Use of EndNote is recommended for easy management and formatting of citations and reference lists.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
S. Karger Publishers supports DOIs as unique identifiers for articles. A DOI number will be printed on the title page of each article. DOIs can be useful in the future for identifying and citing articles published online without volume or issue information. More information can be found at www.doi.org
NIH-Funded Research
The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) mandates under the NIH Public Access Policy that final, peer-reviewed manuscripts appear in its digital database within 12 months of the official publication date. As a service to authors, Karger submits the final version of your article to PubMed Central, where it will appear after a standard embargo. More details on NIH's Public Access Policy are available at More details on NIH's Public Access Policy is available here.
Self-Archiving
Karger permits authors to archive their pre-prints (i.e. pre-refereeing) or post-prints (i.e. final draft post-refereeing) on their personal or institution's servers, provided the following conditions are met: Articles may not be used for commercial purposes, must be linked to the publisher's version, and must acknowledge the publisher's copyright.
Page Charges
There are no page charges for papers of 5 or fewer printed pages (including tables, illustrations and references). Each additional complete or partial page is charged to the author at CHF 310.00. The allotted size of a paper is equivalent to approximately 16 manuscript pages (including tables, illustrations and references).
Proofs
Unless indicated otherwise, proofs are sent to the address given for correspondence and should be returned with the least possible delay. Alterations made in proofs, other than the correction of printer's errors, are not accepted.
Reprints
Order forms and a price list are sent with the proofs. Orders submitted after the issue is printed are subject to considerably higher prices.
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For non-native English speakers and international authors who would like assistance with their writing before submission, we suggest American Journal Experts for their scientific editing service. |
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