Print ISSN 0100-879X

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

• Scope and policy
• Form and preparation of manuscripts
• Manuscript format
• Short Communications
• Review Articles

Submission of manuscripts implies that the same work has not been published and is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. When part of the material has been presented in a preliminary communication or in an unrefereed symposium, this should be cited as a footnote on the title page and a copy should accompany the submitted manuscript. When appropriate, papers in the area of Clinical Investigation should include a statement indicating that the protocol has been approved by the Hospital Ethics Committee (Hospital with which at least one of the authors is associated).

The Journal publishes Full-length Papers, Short Communications, Review Articles, and sections containing Concepts and Comments and Reports of Scientific Meetings. The decision of acceptance for publication lies with the Editors and is based on the recommendations of the Editorial Board and/or ad hoc reviewers.

Manuscripts and all correspondence should be sent to the Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto, Av. Bandeirantes, 3900, 14049-900 Ribeirão Preto, SP, Brasil.

Manuscripts should be submitted in English in quadruplicate. Authors are requested to use American rather than British spelling, except, of course, for references whose titles should appear exactly as published. Manuscripts should be either typed or computer printed double-spaced with wide margins of at least 1" on good quality paper and all copies should be sharp and fully legible.

A manuscript submitted for publication should be accompanied by a cover letter containing the following information: full name(s) of author(s), complete mailing address, including zip code, telephone number, fax number and e-mail of corresponding author, main subject area of the paper, a statement indicating if the paper is intended to be a full paper or short communication, and, if the authors so wish, the names of five persons who could act as referees.

Papers should be written so that they are intelligible to the non-specialist reader of the Journal. Where the reader is referred to previous papers by the same authors for important details relevant to the present work, it will facilitate review if reprints are enclosed with the manuscript.

The dates of receipt and acceptance will be published. If the paper is returned to the authors for revision and not returned within 2 months, the date of receipt will be revised. The date of acceptance will be assigned when the authors return the manuscript after the final correction for English style and clarity. The length of the manuscript and the number of tables and figures should be kept to a minimum.

Proofs will be sent to authors for the correction of printer's errors. Other changes may require another editorial review and the additional expenses for correction will be charged to the authors. Fifty (50) reprints of each paper will be supplied free of charge.

Title page
a) title
b) initials and last name(s) of author(s) (matched with superscript numbers identifying institutions)
c) name and address of institution(s) where work was done
d) acknowledgment of research grants and fellowships (agency and grant number)
e) name, complete mailing address, including zip code, telephone number, fax number and e-mail of author to whom correspondence and requests for reprints should be sent.

Running title
This short title to be used as a page heading should not exceed 60 letters and spaces.

Key words
A list of key words or indexing terms (no more than 6) should be included. The Journal recommends the use of medical subject headings of Index Medicus for key words to avoid the use of several synonyms as entry terms in the index for different papers on the same subject.

Abstract
A concise statement not to exceed 250 words in a single paragraph double-spaced should be written on a separate page following the title page. The abstract should briefly and clearly present the problem, experimental approach, new results as quantitative data, and conclusions. Footnotes and undefined abbreviations may not be used. If a reference must be used, the full citation should be given within the abstract. Since abstracts are published separately by Information Services, they should contain sufficient hard data to be appreciated by the reader, who may not have access to the full paper.

Footnotes
Text footnotes, if unavoidable, should be numbered consecutively in superscript in the manuscript and written on a separate page following the abstract.

Introduction
This should state the purpose of the investigation, relationship to other work in the field, and reasons for undertaking the research. An extensive listing or review of the literature is not recommended.

Material and Methods
Sufficient information should be provided in the text or by referring to papers in generally available journals to permit the work to be repeated.

Results
The results should be presented clearly and concisely. Tables and figures should be used only when necessary for effective comprehension of the data. In some situations it may be desirable to combine Results and Discussion in a single section.

Discussion
The purpose of the Discussion is to interpret the results and relate them to existing knowledge. Information given elsewhere in the text may be cited but not repeated in detail in the Discussion.

Acknowledgments
If appropriate, briefly acknowledge technical assistance, advice and assistance from colleagues, etc. Financial support for the research and fellowships should be acknowledged on the title page.

References
References should be cited in the text by number in parentheses in order of citation and typed double-spaced in numerical order on a separate sheet.

The following information must be given: last name and initials of all authors, year of publication, title of article, complete name of Journal (no abbreviations), volume and pages. If reference is a book, also give names and initials of editors, publisher and city. Examples:

1. Evans BA & Richards RI (1985). Genes for the a and g subunits of mouse nerve growth factor are contiguous. EMBO Journal, 4: 133-138.

2. Nolly HL, Carretero OA, Lama MC, Miatello RM & Scicli AG (1994). Vascular kallikrein in deoxycorticosterone acetate-salt hypertensive rats. Hypertension, 23 (Suppl I): I.185-I.188.

3. Sumiyoshi H, Tignor GH & Shope RE (1996). Characterization of a highly attenuated Japanese encephalitis virus generated from molecularly cloned cDNA. Journal of Infectious Diseases (in press).

4. Snedecor GW & Cochran WG (1980). Statistical Methods. 7th edn. Iowa State University Press, Ames, IA.

5. Berridge MJ (1987). Inositol triphosphate and diacylglycerol: two interacting second messengers. Annual Review of Biochemistry, 56: 159-193.

6. Scicli AG, Farthy R, Scicli G & Nolly HL (1992). The kallikrein-kinin system in heart and vascular tissue. In: Bonner G (Editor), The Role of Bradykinin in the Cardiovascular Action of the Converting Enzyme Inhibitor Ramipril. Hoechst, Frankfurt.

7. Evans BA, Drinkwater CC & Richards RI (1987). Mouse glandular kallikreins: structure and partial analysis of the kallikrein gene locus. Journal of Biological Chemistry, 262: 8027-8034.

Note that references are not in alphabetical order and should include the title of the article.

Papers accepted for publication may be cited in the Reference section. The citation should be complete and should end with: (in press).

Reference to "unpublished results" and "submitted papers" should appear in the text in parentheses following the individual name(s). Example: (Santos CS, da-Silva GB and Martins LT, unpublished results). It is assumed that the author has obtained permission from the source when "personal communication" is used.

Tables
Tables should be numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals and grouped together after the References section. All tables must be cited in the text in numerical order and the approximate position of each indicated in the margin. Each table should be typed double-spaced on a separate page (or, if exceptionally large or requiring special symbols or unusual treatment, the table should be submitted camera-ready). A descriptive title and legend, in the form as they appear in the Journal, should make tables understandable without reference to the text (see a recent issue of the Journal). Vertical and diagonal rules should not be used in tables; instead, indentation and vertical or horizontal space should be used to group data.

Figure legends
Type all figure legends double-spaced consecutively on a separate page. Explain all symbols and abbreviations. Legends should make figures understandable without reference to the text. All figures must be cited in the text in numerical order and the approximate position of each indicated in the margin.

Figures
Submit one set of original artwork and three copies of line drawings suitable for reviewer evaluation. Four black and white photographs of photomicrographs should be submitted and a magnification bar should be added to each figure with its length reported in the legend.

All figures must be camera-ready and have a professional appearance. Poor-quality figures or illegible labeling may result in delayed acceptance and publication. Figures will not be returned to authors even when paper is not accepted.

"Glossies" are appropriate only when hand-drawn artwork must be retained by the author. They should not be submitted in the case of computer-generated artwork. Please send original laser prints on high-quality paper instead. Use lettering of sufficient size to be legible after reduction, when appropriate. Use uppercase letters A,B,C, etc. to identify individual parts of multi-part figures. Symbols for the identification of curves in a graph can be added to the body of a figure when this does not cause "crowding", or at the bottom of the figure.

Check figures carefully before submission to be sure that proper versions are being sent and that there are no labeling errors. Each figure must be clearly identified. Using a soft pencil, write on the back of each figure the name of the first author and the number of the figure and identify the top with an arrow. Figures should be numbered separately using consecutive Arabic numerals in the order they appear in the text.

Units
The Système International (SI) of metric units is used for units and abbreviations of units. Examples: s for second, min for minute, h for hour, l for liter, m for meter, kDa for kilodaltons, 5 mM rather than 5 x 10-3, M or 0.005 M, etc.

Abbreviations
Abbreviations should be avoided or kept to a minimum. If used, they must be defined at the first mention. Abbreviations should not appear in the title nor, if possible, in the abstract.

Short Communications are reports on a single subject which should be concise but definitive. Pairs or sequences of papers will not be allowed. The scope of this section is intended to be wide and to encompass methodology and experimental data on subjects of interest to the readers of the Journal.

It should contain: an abstract of no more than 250 words, no more than 6 key words, a running title, text not exceeding 8 double-spaced typed pages of 26 lines (excluding references), a maximum of 2 figures or tables (or one figure and one table) and no more than 20 references. A Short Communication should not be divided into separate sections (Introduction, Methods, etc.). Authors should state in the cover letter that the manuscript is intended to be a Short Communication.

Review Articles by investigators who have made substantial contributions to a specific area in medical and biological sciences will be published by invitation of the Editors. However, an outline of a review article may be submitted to the Editors without prior consultation.

If it is judged appropriate for the Journal, the author(s) will be invited to prepare the review article for publication. A Review Article should contain: an abstract of 250 words or less, no more than 6 key words, a running title and no more than 60 references. It should be divided into sections with appropriate titles and subtitles.