Horizonte Médico - Instructions to the authors

Horizonte Médico (Lima), a quarterly publication edited by the School of Human Medicine of Universidad de San Martín de Porres (USMP), aims at disseminating original works and professional experiences developed in biomedical and public health areas, both nationally and internationally, and promoting research in the different fields of human medicine including, but not limited to, the following areas:

•    Medicine and health-related professions
•    Public and occupational health
•    Surgery
•    Medical education and other health-related social issues

For manuscript submission, it is not necessary to be a professor or student of Universidad de San Martín de Porres but a bio-psycho-medical-social sciences professional or student from any university who writes original and unpublished manuscripts.

•    Editorial
•    Original article
•    Brief communication
•    Review article
•    Case report
•    Opinion article
•    History
•    Biosketch
•    Letter to the editor

To disseminate research, clinical cases and experiences developed in biomedical and public health areas, both nationally and internationally, and promote research in the different fields of human medicine.

I. MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION GUIDELINES

Horizonte Médico (Lima) is edited according to the Vancouver Citation Style and the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals from the United States National Library of Medicine (NLM).

Manuscripts submitted for publication should meet the following presentation guidelines:
•    Manuscripts’ subjects should be related to the bio-psycho-medical-social sciences.
•    Manuscripts should be original and unpublished.
•    Authors should completely read the Author Guidelines. Manuscripts should be written in Spanish using Arial font size 10, simple line spacing, 25 mm margins and Microsoft Word format.
•    Tables and figures should be placed within the relevant text (Table 1, Figure 1).
•    Manuscripts should meet the reference and style requirements as outlined in the Vancouver criteria for authorship.
•    Authors should follow the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) guidelines (www.publicationethics.org).
•    Authors should include the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) disclosure form for potential conflicts of interest (COI).

Manuscripts will be submitted to the journal through Open Journal Systems (OJS), by which authors should:

1.    Login and/or register from the main menu (http://www.horizontemedico.usmp.edu.pe/).
2.    Receive an e-mail message confirming the registration and including the information to access the system immediately after the registration.
3.    Follow the steps for submitting the manuscript through OJS.

Authors are required to attach the following documents and information to their manuscript through OJS:

1. Cover letter addressed to Horizonte Médico (Lima) journal’s director requesting the evaluation of their manuscript.

2. Affidavit of Authorization for Publication and Distribution of Articles, duly completed and signed by the authors, acknowledging that the submitted manuscript is copyrighted and has not been either published or submitted for evaluation in another journal, and assigning the copyright to Horizonte Médico (Lima) once the manuscript is accepted for publication.

3. Duly completed ICMJE disclosure form (https://www.icmje.org/disclosure-of-interest) for potential COI. The corresponding author should submit each of the co-authors’ form to the journal.

5. Authors whose work was performed within the scope of their employment must provide a statement confirming the permission granted from their employers.

6. Affiliation: Each author will include only one institutional and one academic affiliation (if applicable) with the following information: name of the institution, department, subdepartment, city, country. In addition, each author should indicate his/her profession and highest academic qualification attained (e.g., cardiologist, doctor of medicine). Terms such as chief of department, candidate, advisor, lecturer or professor will not be accepted.

7. Authorship contribution statement: The contribution of each author should be stated in the manuscript.

8. Funding source form: It should include the name of the funding entity, name of the funded project and funding agreement number.

9. Correspondence data: It should include the corresponding author’s personal or institutional e-mail address, postal address and telephone or cellphone number.

10. Researcher persistent identifier (PID) or ORCID iD containing (at least) data on researchers’ professional training and publications with the following structure: https://orcid.org/0000-0000-0000-0000. If the authors do not have an ORCID iD yet, they may create it by registering in https://orcid.org.

11. If the research was presented at a scientific event or is part of a dissertation/thesis or technical work, this information should be included in the manuscript by inserting a citation under the title.

The publication of articles in the different sections of Horizonte Médico (Lima) does not necessarily mean that the Editorial Board supports the opinions included in such articles or rendered by their authors.

Horizonte Médico (Lima) journal does not charge any fee (Article Processing Charging – APC) to authors as a result of the reception, review, editorial processing or publication of the submitted manuscripts.

Authors’ names and e-mail addresses will be used exclusively for the stated purposes of Horizonte Médico (Lima) and will not be made available for any other purpose or to any other party.

In order to design, conduct and report studies, trials and research, the guidelines and recommendations set by international initiatives should be followed:

1.    ARRIVE (https://arriveguidelines.org/): Animals research.
2.    CONSORT (http://www.consort-statement.org/): Randomized controlled trials.
3.    MOOSE (https://www.ijo.in/documents/14moose_ss.pdf): Meta-analyses and systematic reviews of observational studies.
4.    PRISMA (http://www.prismastatement.org/): Systematic reviews and meta-analyses.
5.    STARD (http://www.stard-statement.org) and (https://www.tripod-statement.org/): Diagnostic and prognostic accuracy studies.
6.    STROBE (https://www.strobe-statement.org/): Observational studies.
7.    SPIRIT (https://www.spirit-statement.org/): Interventional trials.
8.    SRQR (http://links.lww.com/ACADMED/A218) and COREQ (https://www.equator-network.org/reporting-guidelines/coreq/): Qualitative research.

Editorial: It is submitted at the request of Horizonte Médico (Lima) journal’s director. It will refer to the articles published on the same issue of the journal or will be about a subject of interest according to the editorial policy.

Original article: It is an unpublished research article about a subject related to the scientific, technical, humanistic or deontological-ethical field of medicine. It has the following sections: structured abstract (in Spanish and English), keywords, introduction, materials and methods (which includes the following: design and study population, variables and measurements, statistical analysis and ethical considerations), discussion and results. The abstract should be no longer than 250 words in length and have the following format: objective, materials and methods, results and conclusions. Original articles should be no more than 3,500 words, and contain five (5) figures or tables and at least 20/30 references.

Brief communication: Also referred to as short report or letter, it is an original research article that, due to its objectives, design and results, can be published in a short format. It has the following structure: unstructured abstract (not exceeding 150 words), keywords, introduction, study (including the “findings” to show the results), discussion and at least 20 references. It can contain four (4) figures or tables and a maximum of 2,000 words.

Review article: This article provides a comprehensive, objective, updated and organized review of a certain topic which also includes scientific evidence and is written by an expert in said topic. It should be written according to the following scheme: unstructured abstract in Spanish and English (not exceeding 250 words), keywords, introduction, search strategy (accessed databases, words used for the research, selected articles), main text, conclusions and at least 30/70 references. Review articles should be no more than 4,000 words and contain five (5) figures or tables.

Case report: This section, also referred to as case study, includes cases that make a substantial contribution to medical knowledge. It is the discussion of a case in clinical medicine or surgery of diagnostic interest, unusual presentation or obvious interest for the scientific community that deserves to be published, such as the first case of dengue fever in Lima. It should be written according to the following scheme: unstructured abstract (not exceeding 125 words), brief introduction, clinical case, discussion and at least 15 references. The total extent of the article, including the references, should not exceed six (6) pages written only on one side of the page. Case reports should be no more than 1,500 words and contain four (4) figures or tables.

Opinion article: It is a manuscript characterized by statements and arguments written by a well-known person about a medical subject, such as the description of the primary health care by the representative of the Pan-American Health Organization (PAHO) in Peru. It should not exceed six (6) pages written only on one side of the page. Opinion articles should be no more than 2,500 words and contain three (3) figures or tables.

History: It is the narration and explanation of past events significant to the medical field, such as the history of the first low-segment C-section conducted in Peru. It should not exceed eight (8) pages written only on one side of the page. Histories should be no more than 2,500 words and contain one (1) figure or table.

Biosketch: It is the biographical sketch of a current physician or well-known person whose work has had a particular influence in the medical field or in the improvement of medical teaching at USMP, both in Peru and worldwide. It should not exceed six (6) pages written only on one side of the page. Biosketches should be no more than 2,500 words and contain one (1) figure or table.

Letter to the editor: Its goal is to enrich or discuss an article published in the last two (2) issues of Horizonte Médico (Lima) journal; however, comments on articles published in other national journals may be accepted in exceptional cases. Letters presenting research results that contain at most one (1) figure or table are accepted. Moreover, they should have up to five (5) authors, two (2) pages, 800 words and ten (10) references.

All manuscripts should include a minimum of three (3) and maximum of ten (10) keywords, separated by a semicolon, both in Spanish and English. To select them, researchers can use BIREME terms (https://pesquisa.bvsalud.org/portal/decs-locator/?lang=es&mode=&tree_id=) for Spanish keywords and MeSH NLM terms (http://nlm.nih.gov/mesh/) for English keywords.

Only original articles require a structured abstract (objective, materials and methods, results and conclusions); the rest of the articles should include an unstructured abstract.

GUIDELINES FOR FIGURES AND TABLES

• Figures: They are drawings, maps, photographic images, diagrams, statistical charts, schemes or any illustration different from a table. They should be numbered consecutively according to their first mention in the text. If the figure has been previously published elsewhere, the original source should be cited and the written permission for reproduction of the material presented. This authorization from the copyright owner is necessary; exceptions to copyright are documents of public domain. Photographic images should be sent as TIFF or JPG files with a resolution of at least 600 dpi or 300 pixels. Identifiable facial photographs should be edited to protect patient anonymity (Table 1).

• Tables: They should include the necessary information both in the title and content to understand them with no need to read the text. It is recommended to check that the data presented in the tables do not duplicate the results described elsewhere in the text. The tables should be submitted as Microsoft Word or Excel files (not as images), numbered consecutively and with Arabic numerals. They should only have horizontal lines to separate the heading from the body and, in no case, they should have vertical lines. Definitions of abbreviations and symbols used in the tables should be placed in a footnote below each table body. If a table includes data from another published or unpublished source, it is imperative to gain permission for using it and acknowledge that source as a footnote under the table (Table 1).

References should be inserted within the text in consecutive order according to the Vancouver Citation Style and ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (ICMJE Recommendations) (https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html). Authors should only cite the sources used to write the text. References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text, using superscript Arabic numerals and in parentheses. If citing more than one reference at the same point, separate the numbers with commas, but use hyphens to join the first and last numbers of a closed series. If a document has six (6) or more authors, provide the last name of the first six (6) with the abbreviation "et al." (roman font) (Table 1).

Table 1. Maximum number of words, tables, figures and references according to the section

Section	Abstract	Main text	Figures and tables	References
Editorial^a	--	1,500	--	5 /10
Original article	250	3,500	5	20/30
Brief communication	150	2,000	4	20
Review article	250	4,000	5	30/70
Case report	125	1,500	4	15
Opinion article	150	2,500	3	30
History	100	2,500	3	30
Biosketch	--	2,500	1	10
Letter to the editor	--	500/1,000	1	10

Horizonte Médico (Lima) journal meets current ethical standards for scientific research and publications, either during the review process or afterwards. For research studies on humans, the manuscript should include a statement to confirm that the research protocol was previously approved by an institutional ethics committee and that it meets the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki – Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects (revised in 2013).

Approval from an institutional ethics committee is required in the following cases: research involving human subjects, and research involving human biological materials or potentially identifiable personal data (e.g., medical records).

Research using public domain secondary databases (systematic reviews, meta-analyses or bibliometric studies), public health programs (surveillance and assessment) and research on outbreaks or health emergencies do not require the approval of the institutional ethics committee.

The most common ethical misconducts in publications are plagiarism, honorary or ghost authorship, data manipulation, and attempt at duplicate or redundant publication. In order to detect plagiarism or similarity, Horizonte Médico (Lima) journal uses Turnitin software.

In the event of any doubt and/or dispute on that issue, it will be evaluated and solved by Horizonte Médico (Lima) journal’s Editorial Board, according to the following standards and international bodies: Declaration of Helsinki 2013, World Health Organization (WHO), Council for International Organization of Medical Sciences (CIOMS), American College of Epidemiology (ACE) Ethics Guidelines, Health Research Ethics Authority (HREA, Canada) and Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) (www.publicationethics.org).

Horizonte Médico (Lima) journal’s Editorial Board follows ICMJE recommendations for attribution of authorship, which is based on the following criteria:

1.    Substantial contribution to the conception or design of the work, as well as the acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data for the work.
2.    Drafting of the work or revision of its content.
3.    Approval of the final version to be published.
4.    Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work and ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Those designated as authors should meet all four (4) criteria, which will be specified in the Authorship Contribution section. According to the ICMJE, contributors just involved in the acquisition of funding, data collection or supervision of the research group are not considered authors and should be included in the Acknowledgement section.

CRediT (Contributor Roles Taxonomy) can be used to describe the roles played by manuscript contributors (https://credit.niso.org/) such as:

1.    Conceptualization
2.    Methodology
3.    Writing – original draft
4.    Writing – review and editing

Manuscripts will be submitted for consideration of the Editorial Board, which consists of a multidisciplinary team of experts who are members of renowned research institutions. The Editorial Board will decide if the manuscript is suitable for Horizonte Médico (Lima) journal’s editorial line and if it should undergo a peer review process. Otherwise, it will be returned to the author.

PEER REVIEW

Manuscripts are initially evaluated according to Horizonte Médico (Lima) journal’s guidelines, which aim to ensure the quality and integrity of the manuscripts submitted for publication. Then, they are assessed by (internal and external) peer reviewers who are experts from the same field as the authors. Peer reviewers’ participation is always anonymous and ad honorem.

Peer review is conducted by double blind peer review—i.e., reviewers do not know the identity of the manuscripts’ authors, and authors do not know the identity of the reviewers.

Manuscripts submitted for the journal’s different sections—i.e., original articles, brief communications, review articles, case reports and opinion articles—are assessed by peer reviewers. The editorial, history, biosketch and letter to the editor are only evaluated by the Editorial Board, unless the evaluation of an external reviewer is required.

Peer reviewers’ grading may be as follows: a) The manuscript is recommended to be published with no modifications. b) The manuscript should be published after the implementation of some corrections and improvements. c) The manuscript is rejected for the moment, but it is recommended to make corrections and submit a new version. d) The manuscript is rejected with observations not subject to validation.

Based on the peer reviewers’ observations, the Editorial Board will decide if the manuscript is to be published or rejected, or if recommendations should be sent to the authors.

The author should submit the corrected version of the manuscript, indicating the modifications applied and answering the reviewers’ comments in thirty (30) days.

The Editorial Board has the authority to resend the corrected manuscript to the peer reviewer before considering its publication. If the recommendations have been favorably met, the manuscript will be published.

The average time of the editorial process, as from the reception of the manuscript to its publication, varies from two (2) to four (4) months.

Approved manuscripts will undergo a final editing process. Print proofs will be sent to the authors for their examination. They will be allowed to modify only the style and translation but not the content. Print proofs should be returned by the authors during a period of seven (7) days; otherwise, the Editorial Board will consider the final version as accepted.

V. ADOPTION OF OPEN SCIENCE

In order to be in line with open science policies of scholarly communication and in accordance with SciELO Perú policies for the evaluation of scientific journals (2020), Horizonte Médico (Lima) journal reports that, as of October 2021 and progressively:

Manuscripts previously deposited in preprint servers certified or recommended by the journal will be accepted.

Authors will be asked to include citations and references of data, program codes and other content underlying the articles’ texts. As an option, it is recommended that referenced contents be available in open access prior to or in parallel with the manuscript publication.

Mechanisms to open the peer-review process will be allowed: initially, a single-blind peer review—i.e., the reviewer knows the author’s data—and then an open peer review will be used. Thus, if manuscripts submitted for peer review have preprints, the type of review will be differentiated.

For published preprints, the corresponding author should inform the journal that the research follows and complies with open science policies by using the Open Science Compliance Form (.docx). The form should be sent as an additional and complementary file to the manuscript and other documents requested by the journal through the online submission system.

The journal recommends using one of the following preprint servers according to the topic of the manuscript and the decision of all authors:

•    SciELO Preprints (https://preprints.scielo.org)
•    medRxiv (https://www.medrxiv.org)
•    bioRxiv (https://www.biorxiv.org)
•    arXiv (https://arxiv.org)