Instructions for Authors
Submission of manuscripts
All manuscripts should be submitted to Editorial Office via electronic Editorial System. Tables and figures should be submitted separately; linked files such as images or charts should also be provided. WE DO NOT ACCEPT manuscripts sent by post or e-mail.
The articles may be considered for publication in the following sections:
- Original papers – including experimental research;
- Reviews;
- Research-in-Progress.
Polymers in Medicine DOES NOT ACCEPT case reports or letters to editors. Priority will be given to original papers developed as part of an international cooperation.
If the article is already accessible online as registered preprint on any website or in any database, and has been already assigned with a DOI, such information, together with an URL of the registered preprint, has to appear in the cover letter.
The submitted manuscripts should meet the general standards and requirements agreed upon by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, known as “Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals”. They should also conform to the high-quality editorial procedures and practice (formulated by the Index Copernicus International Scientific Committee as Consensus Statement on Good Editorial Practice 2004).
EASE Guidelines for Authors and Translators of Scientific Articles to be Published in English
Authorship
The authorship should be based on the following criteria:
- Substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work; or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work;
- Drafting the work or revising it critically for important intellectual content;
- Final approval of the version to be published.
Authors should meet all three (3) above criteria. If a large, multi-center group conducted the research, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. The Author submitting a collectively authored manuscript should establish the order of authorship, provide all individual authors of the particular group, as well as provide the group's name. All those designated as authors should meet all criteria for authorship, and all who meet the criteria should be identified as authors. The contribution of each Author must be documented to the extent to take the public responsibility for appropriate portions, the content and the conflict of interests. Authors who do not meet all three criteria of authorship should be acknowledged (prior to their written consent).
All Authors who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors and their authorship should be disclosed in accordance with the following list:
A – research concept and design; B – collection and/or assembly of data; C – data analysis and interpretation; D – writing the article; E – critical revision of the article; F – final approval of the article.
Ghostwriting and guest authorship are manifestations of scientific misconduct, and any detected cases will be revealed, including notification of the relevant entities (institutions employing the authors, scientific societies, associations, scientific editors, etc.). Editors require the identification of funding sources of publications, information about contribution to research from institutions, associations and other entities (the rule: financial disclosure). Editors continuously monitor and document any signs of scientific misconduct, especially violations and breaches of ethics applicable in the study
Changes to authorship
Before manuscript submission, provide the final and definite list of all authors. If you want to add, remove or change the order of the authors, you can do it only before the manuscript acceptance. Each change, however, should be always approved by the journal Editor.
To make authorship changes send to the Editorial Office:
1. the reason for the change in the author list; and
2. a written signed consent (via e-mail/letter) from all authors stating that they agree with the addition, removal or rearrangement within the list.
We require such signatures from all authors, even those who have been added or removed. In exceptional circumstances our Editors can consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement of authors after the manuscript acceptance. Please note, however, that the process of publication will be suspended until Editors reach such a decision.
Language
Articles must be written in US English. Authors not entirely familiar with English usage are advised to seek the assistance of an English speaker; correct style is the responsibility of the authors. The journal does not offer translation services. Manuscripts which are not adequately prepared will be returned to the authors.
Abstract
The authors provide an abstract in English. If at least one of the co-authors speaks Polish, abstract in Polish is also required.
Abstract of original papers should contain from 200 to 300 words and should consist of 5 separate parts introduced by separate subheadings in the following order:
- Background
- Objectives
- Materials and methods
- Results
- Conclusions.
An unstructured abstract of 150 to 250 words is required for review articles.
The abstract should be submitted only through the Editorial System – it should not be pasted at the beginning of the main body of the manuscript.
Key words
Abstract should be followed by 3–5 key words written in the language of the manuscript and recommended by the Index Medicus Subject Headings (MeSH). If at least one of the co-authors speaks Polish, key words in Polish are also required.
Main text
Manuscripts should be submitted in the following formats: doc, docx, rtf. The total number of words in review papers should not exceed 7,000 words (including main text, references, tables and figure legends), and in original papers 3,500 words (including main text and figure legends, but excluding title page, abstract and references). References to literature, figures and tables should be numbered in the order of their citation in the text. The Author(s) should not use italics, bold or underlined words in the texts. Please use only generic names of drugs. The Author(s) should provide a short title that does not exceed 45 characters and spaces for the running head. The Author(s) should disclose all financial and material support.
In addition, when preparing the manuscript, the authors can consider the structure of the article according to one of the checklists below:
- CONSORT checklist for clinical trials
- STROBE checklist for observational studies
- CASP checklist for qualitative studies
- PRISMA checklist for reviews
- or other suggested by EQUATOR.
They authors should refer to the EQUATOR site as a reference in selecting the appropriate checklist for the study: https://www.equator-network.org/. The checklist should be uploaded in the Editorial System separately.
Units of measure
Laboratory values should be expressed using the International System of Units (Le Système International d’Unités, SI) in lower-case letters (e.g. mmol/L), with the exception of blood pressure values which are to be reported in mm Hg. Temperatures are to be given in degrees Celsius. If conventional units are used, their SI equivalents should be provided in parentheses only at first mention in the text.
Abbreviations
All abbreviations used in the text should be explained in the article (few exceptions are discussed below). Abbreviations should not be used unless they appear at least three (3) times in the text. Nonstandard abbreviations should be avoided. Do not use abbreviations in manuscript titles (except when space considerations require otherwise) or figure legends and table titles. In rare cases when the abbreviation is more familiar than the expansion, the abbreviation alone can be used (e.g. DNA). Abbreviations without expansion can also be used for statistical terms listed in the Statistical analysis section below.
Statistical analysis
As necessary, numerical values should be written with the accuracy of two (2) decimal places, e.g. 7.78; however, for cases such as 7.80 the notation should be used without the zero (7.8). When any p-value is expressed, it should be clear to the reader what parameters and groups were compared, what statistical test was performed, and whether the test was one-tailed or two-tailed (if relevant). For p-values, the actual value for p should be expressed to two (2) digits for p ≥ 0.01, whether or not p is significant. However, when rounding a p-value expressed to three (3) digits would make the p-value not significant (such as p > 0.049 rounded to 0.05), the p-value can be left as 3 digits. If p < 0.01, it should be expressed to three (3) digits. The actual p-value should be expressed (p = 0.04), rather than expressing a statement of inequality (p < 0.05), unless p < 0.001. The p-values of less than 0.001 should be designated as p < 0.001 rather than the exact value, e.g. p = 0.00006 or p = 0.0000. Avoid reporting p-values simply as not significant (NS).
Statistical analysis guidelines
Tables
Up to six (6) tables or figures are permitted. Tables should be placed in separate files. Each table should be referred to at least once in the main text. References to tables should be placed according to the sequence of citing them in the manuscript. Allowed formats: xls, xlsx, doc, docx. Tables should be submitted as separate files (they should not be pasted into the main text).
Figures
Up to six (6) tables or figures are permitted. Figures should be submitted as separate files (they should not be pasted into the main text). Captions for the figures should be placed at the end of the main text. Each figure should be referred to at least once in the main text. References to figures should be placed according to the sequence of citing them in the manuscript. Allowed data formats: for VECTOR graphics (charts, diagrams, etc.) – pdf, eps, ai, cdr (if the graphic was created using MS Office programs, source files of a given program are very helpful: doc, docx, ppt, pptx, xls, xlsx); for BITMAP graphics (photos, screenshots) – tif, jpg, png, bmp (min. 1000 pixels of the base in the drawing with the width of one column and 2100 for the width of two columns).
If Authors used in the Work any figures, photographs, charts, tables, etc. which are not their work, and are protected by the copyright law, they shall be obliged to provide the Publisher with a written authorization to use such materials issued by the author’s economic rights holders. The Author is required to confirm the source of all figures, photographs, charts, etc.
References
The reference list should be submitted only as a separate file and not pasted at the end of the main body of the manuscript. It is the responsibility of the authors to ensure the accuracy of all references according to American Medical Association (AMA) citation style. References should be limited only to the most recent positions and directly connected to the presented topic. References should be identified by Arabic numerals in superscript and numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the manuscript. Abbreviations for journal names should be cited according to Index Medicus. If a journal is not listed in Index Medicus, its full name should be given. If the cited work is available online, the DOI number should be given, and in the case of lack thereof – URL with the access date. Reference to articles that are accepted for publication may be cited as “in press”, whereas manuscripts that are still in preparation or submitted for publication should be referred to as “unpublished data”. This journal should be cited in lists as Polim Med.
Anonymous review
All manuscripts will be subject to a process of anonymous editorial review (the name of authors and their affiliations will be disclosed to the reviewers only when the review process is complete). In order to achieve this, the first page and the acknowledgements page will be removed from the manuscripts sent to reviewers. Manuscripts will be sent to at least two (2) independent reviewers. The final decision on accepting the manuscript is made by the Editorial Board, reviews are only supporting this decision. The Editorial Board’s final evaluation of each article is based on criteria developed by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
Galley proof
Authors should keep a copy of their article, as a galley proof will be sent to them without the original manuscript. Corrections to the galley proof should be restricted to printer’s errors only. In order to maintain rapid publication, the galley proof should be returned via Editorial System within 48 hours after receipt. If the Publisher receives no response from the authors after 48 hours, the manuscript will not be published.
Please note that since October 1, 2021 after the article is published as ahead of print, it cannot be changed (which encompasses also affiliations and authors’ order). Such stipulation stems from requirements set by scientific databases in which the papers published in Polymers in Medicine are stored.