Submissions

Author Guidelines

The Annals of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine (ACCLM) accept contributions within clinical chemistry/biochemistry and laboratory medicine. This includes clinical biochemistry, clinical molecular biology and proteomics, hematology and coagulation, immunology, microbiology, drug monitoring and analysis, evaluation of diagnostic markers, new reagents, reference materials, reference values, and quality in laboratory medicine from all countries. Included in the publishing programme are Original Articles / Research Articles, Reviews, Mini Reviews Editorials, Short communications, Short Technical Notes (improvements of methods, etc.), Case report, and Letters to the Editor. All articles are published in English.

1. Submission & Decision

The Annals of Clinical Chemistry and Laboratory Medicine’s (ACCLM) Manuscript Central site, a web-based manuscript submission and handling system, is now under construction. Please submit all manuscripts via email (acclm2070@gmail.com) . The receipt of the manuscript will be acknowledged by an e-mail which includes a manuscript ID number. The manuscript ID number should be quoted in all correspondence with the Editorial Office.

Manuscripts are reviewed by two independent reviewers selected by the Editors. CCLM aspires to notify authors about the decision within 3-4 weeks from submission date. When manuscripts are accepted subject to revision, the revised manuscript should be returned within approx. 6 weeks. Accepted articles are published online ahead of print approx. 3–4 weeks after acceptance.

Papers must not have been submitted for publication elsewhere, (in print or electronically, including on a web site) and on acceptance they become the copyright of the journal. All authors must sign a statement that they have agreed to submission of the manuscript for publication in the journal.

2. Peer review policy

Submitted papers will undergo full peer review, and written comments, when available, will be returned with all refereed manuscripts. Reports for provisionally accepted papers will include a review by a statistician which authors will be required to follow when revising their manuscript. The final decision on the acceptance or rejection of a manuscript will be made by the Editors.

3. Preparation of manuscripts

3.1. Language:

Manuscripts should be written in clear and concise English. Please have your text proofread by a native English speaker before you submit it for consideration. At proof stage, only minor changes other than corrections of printers’ errors are allowed.

3.2. Manuscripts

All manuscripts submitted must be prepared in accordance with the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (the Vancouver convention), available at http://www.icmje.org  

The following are the various General format and length of the types of articles which the journal publishes. Authors must adhere to the page/word counts given here (word count excluding references, captions and Tables/word count in Abstract/no. of Keywords/no. of Tables & Figures/References).

Full length Original / Research Articles: 3500/250/3-6/8/50/Structured Abstract

Reviews: 6000/250/3-6/8/150/Unstructured Abstract

Mini Reviews: 3500/250/3-6/4/40/ Unstructured Abstract

Short Communication: 3500/250/3-6/2/40/Unstructured Abstract

Case study: 1200/NA/3-5/2/10/Unsatructured Abstract

Letters to the Editor: 1200/NA/3-5/2/10/No Abstract

Letters to the Editor: Reply: 750/NA/3/1/10/No Abstract

Guidelines and Recommendations: 3500/250/3-6/6/40/Structured Abstract

Editorials: 1500/NA/NA/10/No Abstract

3.3. File types

Only electronic files conforming to the journal's guidelines will be accepted. Preferred formats for the text and tables of your manuscript are Word DOC, XLS files are also accepted.

3.4. Authorship criteria

Papers should only be submitted for consideration once the authorization of all contributing authors has been gathered. Those submitting papers should carefully check that all those whose work contributed to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors.

The list of authors should include all those who can legitimately claim authorship. This is all those who:

1. have made a substantial contribution to the concept and design, acquisition of data or analysis and interpretation of data
2. drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content
3. approved the version to be published.

Authors should meet the conditions of all of the points above. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content. The first author may also be the individual taking responsibility for writing the first draft of the paper, or the person who serves as the guarantor for the study as a whole. The last author is often a senior author, graduate advisor, study leader, or primary grant recipient.

3.5. Presentation Submit manuscript text as a Word-file and Figures as separate TIF format files. Use Times New Roman 12 pt and double spacing throughout the manuscript.

The material should be submitted in the following order:

1. Title page

1. The title page should carry the full title of the paper, consisting of no more than 20 words (only common abbreviations should be used if absolutely necessary); titles should be clear and brief, conveying the message of the paper.
2. Manuscripts should have no more than 10 authors. In cases where there are more than 10 authors, the corresponding author will be contacted and asked to amend.
3. All authors’ names: the full first name, middle name/initial (optional) and last name of each author should appear; if the work is to be attributed to a department or institution, its full name and location (District & Country) should be included.
4. The affiliations of all the authors; when authors are affiliated to more than one institution, their names should be connected using 1,2,3. These letters should follow the surname but precede the address; they should be used only for the second and subsequent addresses.
5. Disclaimers, if any.
6. The name and address of the author responsible for correspondence concerning the manuscript, and the name and address of the author to whom requests for reprints should be made. The address should contain e-mail address, telephone and fax numbers. If reprints are not to be made available, a statement to this effect should be included.
7. The peer-review process as well as publication will be delayed if you do not provide up to date e-mail address, telephone and fax numbers.
8. Word count: please list full word count (including content of title page, abstract & references).

2. An abstract which should not exceed 250 words in length. Up to 10 key words should be appended to the abstract in alphabetical order, and they should not include words contained in the title of the article. When possible, the key words should be adjusted to Medical Subject Headings of Index (MeSH) Medicus.

3. Structured abstract. The second page should carry an abstract not exceeding 250 words and should include sections on Background with objectives of study, Methods, Results and Conclusions.

4. Text. Full papers of an experimental or observational nature should be divided into sections headed Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion.

5. Use of abbreviations should be kept to an absolute minimum; abbreviations and abbreviated phrases should be written out at first mention followed by the abbreviation in parentheses. Avoid those not accepted by international bodies. Systéme International (SI) units should be used where appropriate.

6. Tables with their headings. Tables should be within the main manuscript document and numbered with arabic numerals. Each table should have a short descriptive heading and sufficient explanation to be understandable without reference to the text. Units in which the results are expressed should appear at the top of each column. Abbreviations should be defined in a footnote the first time they are used.

7. Legends to figures.

8. References, which are to be numbered consecutively as they appear in the text. In the list of references, all authors are to be named. Unpublished results should not be listed in the reference list unless the article is accepted for publication.

9. Figures. Please make sure that the units of measurement are presented in SI units, and that all labelling is in proportion to the figure. The size of letters, numbers and symbols in figures should be l.3--l.6 mm when printed. Graphs should be plotted on blue graph or plain white paper: grid lines that are to show in the engraving should be inked in black. Photos should be uploaded seperately in TIFF or EPS. Please note that all the legends to figures must be typed within the figure legends section in the main document.

10. Quantities and units must be expressed according to the recommendation of the Système International (SI), the only exception being hydrostatic pressures in body fluids: these should be expressed in mmHg.. The volume unit Liter must be abbreviated "L'' (capital L). Concentration units are mol/liter, (milli, micro, nano, pico)mol/L, written in full or as standard abbreviation.

11. Brief acknowledgements of grants and other assistance, if any, can be printed at the end of the text. Cost of changes to the electronic manuscript may be charged to the author(s).

For further information and support, please contact the editorial office at acclm2070@gmail.com

3.6. Conflict of interest and funding

Authors are responsible for recognising and disclosing financial and other conflicts of interest that might bias their work. They should acknowledge in the manuscript all financial support for the work and other financial or personal connections to the work.

3.7. Ethics and consent

When reporting experiments on human subjects, indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 1983. Do not use patients' names, initials, or hospital numbers, especially in illustrative material. Papers including animal experiments or clinical trials must be accompanied by an approval by the local ethics committee. Please give date of issue and registration number.

3.8. Reference Style

References: Adhere strictly to the reference style of the Journal (Vancouver; recommendations of the “International Committee of Medical Journals” (http://www.icmje.org) to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.

All references mentioned in the Reference list must be mentioned in the text, and vice versa. List and number the references consecutively in the order that they appear in the text, including Tables and Figures. In the text, identify references by Arabic numerals in parentheses. Italic and boldface font type in the Reference section is not allowed. List all authors; Identify authors by last name first, followed by up to 2 initials, without periods, indicating the authors’ first name. Only the first name of the title is capitalized, as well as proper names within the title. Journal names are abbreviated according to the World List of Scientific Periodicals, without periods. After the abbreviated journal name, give the year of publication, followed by a semicolon, volume number (but no issue number), followed by a double colon, and the page numbers, with the last page number in shortened format. Meeting abstracts may be cited only if published in journals.

Unpublished observations and personal communications are cited only in the text. Correct linking of the references depends on strict adherence to Journal style.

3.9. Corresponding Author Contact details

Provide full contact details for the corresponding author including email, mailing address and telephone numbers.

Role of the Corresponding Author

The corresponding author (or coauthor designee) will serve on behalf of all coauthors as the primary correspondent with the editorial office during the submission and review process. If the manuscript is accepted, the corresponding author will review an edited typescript and proof, make decisions regarding release of information in the manuscript to the news media, federal agencies, or both, and will be identified as the corresponding author in the published article. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that the Acknowledgment section of the manuscript is complete and is responsible for ensuring that the conflict of interest disclosures reported in the Acknowledgment section of the manuscript are accurate, up-to-date, and consistent with the information provided in each author’s.

4. Equal contributions

In cases in which more than one individual has contributed equally, the order in which these individuals are listed can be determined alphabetically or by drawing lots. A footnote is then added to the paper stating that these authors contributed equally to the study.

5. Publication Fees

There is no author’s submission fee or other publication related fee since all articles processing cost is supported by Nepalese Association for Clinical Chemistry (NACC) until there is a policy change.

6. Acceptance of Manuscript

Manuscripts are reviewed by two independent reviewers selected by the Editors. CCLM aspires to notify authors about the decision within 3-4 weeks from submission date. When manuscripts are accepted subject to revision, the revised manuscript should be returned within approx. 6 weeks. Accepted articles are published online ahead of print approx. 3–4 weeks after acceptance.

7. Rejection of Manuscripts

Manuscripts dealing with subjects that have been well studied in the literature, and that do not resolve questions raised by previous studies, or manuscripts that are statistically underpowered, are likely to be rejected without peer review. This applies in particular to studies of genetic associations, which will be considered only if they contribute new insights and are statistically valid according to generally accepted criteria. Articles which are likely to affect the choice, performance or interpretation of clinical tests will be favored over those which do not, and animal or cell-culture studies need to justify their eligibility. Reporting of negative results must be justified by prior evidence that a positive result would be expected. Manuscripts are also returned to authors if they do not comply with the Information for Authors (e.g., if the number of words allowed for a certain article type will be exceeded).

Checklist for the author

1. Title page
   • Section of Journal to be published in (or note if a review article)
   • Title of article and short title (20 words or fewer)
   • Authors, and affiliations
   • Author to whom correspondence and reprint requests are to be sent, including address, office phone and fax numbers, and e-mail address
2. Structured abstract, 250-word maximum
3. Text (including Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion)
4. References
5. Legends
6. Figures and illustrations, in RTF, TXT, TIFF, GIF, JPEG, or EPS format
7. Tables (provide /DTief title for each)

Please contact the Editorial Office with any further questions:

E-mail: acclm2070@gmail.com

We will do our best to assist you.