Instructions to authors

THE EUROPEAN RESPIRATORY JOURNAL, the official journal of the European Respiratory Society, publishes twelve issues per year in English. Clinical and experimental work dealing with the whole field of respiratory medicine, including cell biology, epidemiology, immunology, pathophysiology, thoracic imaging, paediatric pneumology, occupational medicine, intensive care, sleep medicine, and thoracic surgery, will be published. In addition to such original material, the Journal will print Editorials and Reviews, Technical notes, Case Studies and Letters to the Editor.
Presentation of manuscripts should conform with the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, (see N Engl J Med 1997; 336: 309-315).

Authors submitting a paper do so on the understanding that neither the work nor any part of its essential substance, tables or figures has been or will be published or submitted to another scientific journal or is being considered for publication elsewhere. This must be stated in the cover letter. This restriction does not apply to abstracts, but includes work published in any other language. If papers closely related to the submitted manuscript have been published or submitted for publication elsewhere, copies of these papers must be included with the submission. The work has been approved by all co-authors, if any. Submission of the manuscript also implies that if and when it is accepted for publication the authors automatically agree to transfer the copyright to the publisher.
The copyright protection implies that the publishers holds the exclusive right to reproduction (including publication in another language) and distribution of any of the articles in the journal. Material published in this journal may only be stored on microfilm, video discs and in electronic database etc. and be reproduced photographically with a prior written permission of the publisher.
Each manuscript will be reviewed by an Associate Editor and reviewers. Notification can be expected within three months from date of receipt.

Any conflict of interest for a given manuscript must be dealt with according to the statement of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (the "Vancouver Group") as published in the Lancet 1993; 341: 742. The editors and reviewers of the European Respiratory Journal must disclose to the Chief Editor any personal or financial relationship that could bias their opinion and decision in the peer review process. Every author of each manuscript is responsible for recognizing and disclosing financial and other conflicts of interest related to their study or to the subject of their review or editorial article. The authors have to acknowledge in a manuscript all financial support for the work and other financial or personal connections to the work. In case of single- or multi-centre trials with blinded intervention, the code must have been broken at the end of the study in the presence of the responsible investigator of each centre. The code and the data will then be available to each participating centre. The first author makes provisions that, if needed, the code and the data are available to the European Respiratory Journal for independent statistical analysis.

All text should be typewritten with an electronic typewriter or letter quality computer printer in 12-point type. The format must be in numbered pages with double line spacing, on one side of the paper only, and with wide margins.
Abbreviations or unusual terms should be described at the first time of use. Symbols as defined by the ad hoc working group of the Commission of the European Communities (see Eur Respir J 1993; 6: Suppl. 16) are recommended. Système International (SI) units are recommended.
Original articles must be no longer than 3000 words, not including abstract, references, tables and legends. Please supply a word count. Figures and/or tables should be limited to eight together.
The presentation should have the following components on separate pages:

It should contain:
(1) a concise informative title, not longer than 90 letters; (2) name(s) of author(s); (3) name of department(s)/institution(s); (4) corresponding author's name, address, e-mail, telephone and fax numbers - including country code; (5) a running head of not more than 45 letters and spaces; (6) keywords using, where possible, terms of the Medical Subjects Headings list from Index Medicus.
No more than 10 names will be listed under the title; other names will appear in a footnote.

Provide an Abstract of not more than 200 words, which is easily understood without reference to the text (see Ann Intern Med 1987; 106: 598-604. The Abstract must have 4 separate paragraphs for the question of the study, materials/patients and methods, results, and the answer to the question. Include one or two sentences of background information before the question, if necessary. The question and answer should be the same as those in the text. Include only a few important values. Avoid using abbreviations and reporting detailed statistics.

State the question you asked (or hypothesis to be tested) and your considerations leading to the formulation of the question. Give only pertinent references.

Study subjects or Animals

Describe the selection of subjects or experimental animals, including controls (for animals, see Laboratory Animals 1985; 19: 106-108). All work involving studies on human subjects is expected to have received approval from local Ethical Committees. Animal experimentation must be performed according to the Helsinki convention for the use and care of animals. The Editors reserve the right to refuse work which does not conform to acceptable ethical criteria.

Study design

Provide a brief overview of the tests or experiments, that is the strategy for answering the question(s). In this subsection, include the independent variable(s) manipulated, the dependent variable(s) measured and all controls. Do not include details of methods.

Methods

Describe methods and apparatus in sufficient detail to allow other workers to evaluate or reproduce the tests/experiments. For methods that have been published, provide only a reference or a reference and a brief description. Identify drugs and chemicals, including generic name, dosage and route of administration.

Analysis

Define the variables clearly. Use statistical analysis that is appropriate for the study. Give sample size estimation, particularly if a type II error may be involved. Describe clearly the statistical methods you used for each analysis: give references for tests that are not well known. For guidance, see Br Med J 1983; 286: 1489-1493, Br Med J 1986; 292: 746-750 and Br Med J 1986; 292:
810-812. Use proper analysis for repeatability (Lancet 1986; i: 307-310).

Include only important results, that is, results that help answer the question. Present most data in figures or tables, not in the text. In the text emphasis or summarise the most important observations. Describe the pre-study condition of patients or animals in Methods, not in Results. Keep the Results section brief.

At the beginning of the Discussion summarise the main results, the answer to the question asked in the introduction (check that the results answer the question) and briefly support the answer with the relevant results. Then, as necessary, explain or defend the answer, explain contradictory or unexpected results and discrepancies with previous findings, describe limitations of the methods, and discuss possible implications. Emphasise the new and important aspects of the study. Make sure that the conclusions at the end are pertinent to the question and the answer.

All acknowledgements should be grouped into one paragraph placed after Discussion. Acknowledge only persons who have made substantial contributions to the study.

Number references consecutively in the order in which they first appear in the text, using Arabic numerals in parentheses. All authors cited and only these must be included in the reference list. For original articles we suggest limiting the number of references to 30. References should conform to the style used in Index Medicus (Vancouver Style) as shown in the following examples:
1. Gelb AF, Zamel N. Lung recoil and density dependence of maximum expiratory flow in emphysema. Bull Eur Physiopathol Respir 1981; 17: 793-798.
2. Hyatt RE, Mead J, Rodarte JR, Wilson TA. Changes in lung mechanics. Flow-volume relationships. In: Macklem PT, Permutt S, Eds. The lung in transition between health and disease. New York, Dekker, 1979; 73-112.

Work, which has not yet been accepted for publication, and personal communications should not appear in the reference list.
One copy of papers cited as in press should be included with the submitted manuscript.

Tables should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals. Units should be presented in one row. Limit decimals to a sensible number. Type each table on a separate sheet with a self-explanatory title and concise footnotes. Large tables should be avoided. The Editors may recommend that additional tables containing important back-up data be deposited with the National Auxiliary Publication Service or other permanent organisations; such a deposition should be noted in the text.

Provide a legend to each figure. Photomicrographs must have internal scale markers (linear scale), since the size and magnification may be altered by the publisher. Figures should be professionally drawn, planning for reduction to column width, with words and numerals large enough to retain their clarity; preferably provide glossy photographs; computer and artist drawn graphs are also acceptable.
Colour illustrations must be paid for by the authors. Ask the Production Office for a quotation before you decide.
In general, figures to be reduced to one column width should be drawn with the abscissae two columns wide (16 cm). Do not crowd the figures or axes with too many numerals or words.
Label the figures on the back with the author's name and figure number, and indicate the top of the figure.
Reproduction is normally black and white. Colour is available through discussion with the Production Manager.

The general presentation should follow the same pattern as full papers but the total length should not exceed three printed pages including figures, tables and the reference list (equivalent to 9 typed pages, double-spaced, and not exceeding 25 typed lines per page. Case Studies should provide new knowledge on aetiology, mechanism, diagnosis or treatment of a disease. Case Studies without new findings and without a clear message will not be accepted.
A "Case for diagnosis" should be prepared as shown, e.g. in this Journal 1991; 4: 125-127. For detailed instructions write to Professor Decramer.

Concise communications of significant scientific importance, that would deserve rapid publication in order to accelerate research in their field, will be considered in this category. Only completed original studies requiring limited revision will be accepted. In the covering letter the request for rapid publication should be stated, together with a justification for this request.
Authors will be notified about the editorial decision within four weeks of receipt, and accepted manuscripts will be published within 3 months. If the manuscript is rejected for rapid publication, the authors may not receive detailed reviewers' comments, but will be allowed to submit as a regular manuscript. Length should not exceed four printed pages including figures and tables (equivalent to 12 typed pages, double-spaced and not exceeding 25 typed lines per page).

A proof will be sent by express mail delivery or fax to the corresponding author. It should be corrected and returned to the ERJ Production Office within 48 hours by fast mail or fax (for address and number, see below). Late return will delay publication. Modification to proofs should be limited to typographical errors only.

Copies of these instructions can be obtained from:

The European Respiratory Society Journals Ltd, Suite 2.4, Hutton's Building, 146 West Street, Sheffield S1 4ES, UK. Tel: 44 114 2780498. Fax: 44 114 2780501.

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