Submissions

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Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
  • The submission has not been previously published, nor is it before another journal for consideration (or an explanation has been provided in Comments to the Editor).
  • The submission file is in OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, RTF, or WordPerfect document file format.
  • Where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
  • The text is double-spaced; uses a 12-point font; employs italics, rather than underlining (except with URL addresses); and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed within the text at the appropriate points, rather than at the end.
  • The text adheres to the stylistic and bibliographic requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, which is found in About the Journal.
  • If submitting to a peer-reviewed section of the journal, the instructions in Ensuring a Blind Review have been followed.

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.

Privacy Statement

Nepal Journals Online (NepJOL) is a member of the Ubiquity Partner Network coordinated by Ubiquity Press. According to the EU definitions, NepJOL is the data controller, and Ubiquity Press are the service providers and data processors. Ubiquity Press provide the technical platform and some publishing services to NepJOL and operate under the principle of data minimisation where only the minimal amount of personal data that is required to carry out a task is obtained.

More information on the type of data that is required can be found in Ubiquity Press’ privacy policy below.

Ubiquity Press Privacy Policy

We take seriously our duty to process your personal data in a fair and transparent way. We collect and manage user data according to the following Privacy Policy. This document is part of our Terms of Service, and by using the press portal, affiliated journals, book, conference and repository websites (the “Websites”), you agree to the terms of this Privacy Policy and the Terms of Service. Please read the Terms of Service in their entirety, and refer to those for definitions and contacts.

What type of personal data do we handle?

There are four main categories of personal data stored by our journal platform, our press platform, and our book management system; Website User data, Author data, Reviewer data and Editor data.

The minimum personal data that are stored are:

  • full name
  • email address
  • affiliation (department, and institution)
  • country of residence

Optionally, the user can provide:

  • salutation
  • gender
  • associated URL
  • phone number
  • fax number
  • reviewing interests
  • mailing address
  • ORCiD
  • a short biography
  • interests
  • Twitter profile
  • LinkedIn profile
  • ImpactStory profile
  • profile picture

The data subjects have complete control of this data through their profile, and can request for it to be removed by contacting info@ubiquitypress.com

What do we do to keep that data secure?

We regularly backup our databases, and we use reliable cloud service providers (Amazon, Google Cloud, Linode) to ensure they are kept securely. Backups are regularly rotated and the old data is permanently deleted. We have a clear internal data handling policy, restricting access to the data and backups to key employees only. In case of a data breach, we will report the breach to the affected users, and to the press/journal contacts within 72 hours.

How do we use the data?

Personal information is only used to deliver the services provided by the publisher. Personal data is not shared externally except for author names, affiliations, emails, and links to ORCiD and social media accounts (if provided) in published articles and books which are displayed as part of the article/book and shared externally to indexes and databases. If a journal operates under open peer review then the reviewer details are published alongside the reviewer details.

How we collect and use your data:

1. When using the website

1.1 what data we collect

  • When you browse our website, we collect anonymised data about your use of the website; for example, we collect information about which pages you view, which files you download, what browser you are using, and when you were using the site.
  • When you comment on an article or book using Disqus, we are not collecting, controlling or processing the data. More details on the DISQUS privacy policy can be found on their website.
  • When you annotate an article or book, this is done via a 3rd party plugin to the website called Hypothes.is. In using this plugin we are not collecting, controlling or processing the data. More details on the Hypothes.is privacy policy can be found on their website.

1.2 why we collect the data

  • We use anonymised website usage data to monitor traffic, help fix bugs, and see overall patterns that inform future redesigns of the website, and provide reports on how frequently the publications on our site have been accessed from within their IP ranges.

1.3 what we do (and don’t do) with the data

  • We do not collect personal information that can be used to identify you when you browse the website.
  • We currently use Google Analytics for publication reports, and to improve the website and services through traffic analysis, but no personal identifying data is shared with Google (for example your computer’s IP is anonymised before transmission).

1.4 what to do if you want to get a copy of your data, or want your data to be removed

  • Please contact info@ubiquitypress.com to request a copy of your data, or for your data to be removed/anonymised.

2. When registering as an author, and submitting an article or book

2.1 what data we collect

  • When registering an account we ask you to log in and provide certain personal information (such as your name and email address), and there is the option to register using an ORCiD which will pre-fill the registration form.
  • As part of submitting an article for publication, you will need to provide personally identifying information which will be used for the peer review process, and will be published. This can include ‘Affiliation’, ‘Competing interests’, ‘Acknowledgements’.

2.2 why we collect the data

  • Registering an account allows you to log in, manage your profile, and participate as an author/reviewer/editor. We use cookies and session information to streamline your use of the website (for example in order for you to remain logged-in when you return to a journal). You can block or delete cookies and still be able to use the websites, although if you do you will then need to enter your username and password to login. In order to take advantage of certain features of the websites, you may also choose to provide us with other personal information, such as your ORCiD, but your decision to utilize these features and provide such data will always be voluntary.
  • Personal data submitted with the article or book is collected to allow follow good publication ethics during the review process, and will form part of the official published record in order for the provenance of the work to be established, and for the work to be correctly attributed.

2.3 what we do (and don’t do) with the data

  • We do not share your personal information with third parties, other than as part of providing the publishing service.
  • As a registered author in the system you may be contacted by the journal editor to submit another article.
  • Any books published on the platform are freely available to download from the publisher website in PDF, EPUB and MOBI formats on the publisher’s site.
  • Any personal data accompanying an article or a book (that will have been added by the submitting author) is published alongside it. The published data includes the names, affiliations and email addresses of all authors.
  • Any articles published on the platform are freely available to download from the publisher website in various formats (e.g. PDF, XML).
  • Ubiquity Press books and articles are typeset by SiliconChips and Diacritech.This process involves them receiving the book and book associated metadata and contacting the authors to finalise the layout. Ubiquity Press work with these suppliers to ensure that personal data is only used for the purposes of typesetting and proofing.
  • For physical purchases of books on the platform Ubiquity Press use print on demand services via Lightning Source who are responsible for printing and distribution via retailers. (For example; Amazon, Book Repository, Waterstones). Lightning Source’s privacy policy and details on data handling can be found on their website.

2.4 why we store the data

  • We store the account data so that you may choose to become a reviewer and be able to perform those tasks, or to become an author and submit an article and then track progress of that article.
  • Published personal data that accompanies an article or a book forms part of the official published record in order for the provenance of the work to be established, and for the work to be correctly attributed.

2.5 what to do if you want to get a copy of your data, or want your data to be removed

  • You are able to view, change and remove your data associated with your profile. Should you choose to completely delete your account, please contact us at support@ubiquitypress.com and we will follow up with your request as soon as possible.
  • To conform to publication ethics and best practice any personal data that is published alongside an article or book cannot be removed. If you have a query about a publication to which you are attributed please contact info@ubiquitypress.com

3. When registering as a reviewer

3.1 what data we collect

  • To become a reviewer you must first register as a user on the website, and set your preference that you would like to be considered as a reviewer. No new personal data is collected when a registered user elects to become a reviewer.
  • When registering an account we ask you to log in and provide certain personal information (such as your name and email address), and there is the option to register using an ORCiD which will pre-fill the registration form.
  • Reviewers can also be registered by editors who invite them to review a specific article. This requires the editor to provide the reviewer’s First Name, Last Name, and Email address. Normally this will be done as part of the process of inviting you to review the article or book.
  • On submitting a review, the reviewer includes a competing interest statement, they may answer questions about the quality of the article, and they will submit their recommendation.

3.2 why we collect the data

  • The data entered is used to invite the reviewer to peer review the article or book, and to contact the reviewer during and the review process.
  • If you submit a review then the details of your review, including your recommendation, your responses to any review form, your free-form responses, your competing interests statement, and any cover letter are recorded.

3.3 what we do (and don’t do) with the data

  • This data is not shared publicly and is only accessible by the Editor and system administrators of that journal or press.
  • The data will only be used in connection with that journal or press.
  • Data that is retained post final decision is kept to conform to publication ethics and best practice, to provide evidence of peer review, and to resolve any disputes relating to the peer review of the article or book.
  • For journals or presses that publish the peer reviews, you will be asked to give consent to your review being published, and a subset of the data you have submitted will become part of the published record.

3.4 what to do if you want to get a copy of your data, or want your data to be removed

  • If you would no longer like to be registered as a reviewer you can edit your profile and tick the box ‘stop being a reviewer’. This will remove you from the reviewer database, however any existing reviews you may have carried out will remain.
  • If you have been contacted by an editor to peer review an article this means that you have been registered in the system. If you would not like to be contacted for peer review you can reply to the email requesting that your data be deleted.

4. When being registered as a co-author

4.1 what data we collect

  • Co-author data is entered by the submitting author. The submitting author will already have a user account. According to standard publishing practice, the submitting author is responsible for obtaining the consent of their co-authors to be included (including having their personal data included) in the article/book being submitted to the journal/press.
  • The requested personal data for co-authors are at the bare minimum; first name, last name, institution, country, email address. This can also include; ORCID ID, Title, Middle Name, Biographical Statement, Department, Twitter Handle, Linkedin Profile Name or ImpactStory ID.

4.2 why we collect the data

  • Assuming that it is accepted for publication, this data forms part of the official published record in order for the provenance of the work to be established, and for the work to be correctly attributed.
  • Author names, affiliations and emails are required for publication and will become part of the permanent cited record.

4.3 what we do (and don’t do) with the data

  • The co-author’s personal data is stored in the author database. This personal data is only used in relation to the publication of the associated article.
  • Any co-author data collected is added to the author database and is only used in association with the article the user is co-author on.

4.5 what to do if you want to get a copy of your data, or want your data to be removed

  • To receive a copy of your data, please contact info@ubiquitypress.com
  • To conform to publication ethics and best practice any personal data that is published alongside an article or book cannot be removed. If you have a query about a publication to which you are attributed please contact info@ubiquitypress.com

5. When signing-up to receive newsletters

5.1 what data we collect

  • We require you to include your name and email address

5.2 why we collect and store the data, and for how long

  • This data would be collected to keep you updated with any news about the platform or specific journal

5.3 what we do (and don’t do) with the data

  • We use mailchimp to provide our mailing list services. Their privacy policy can be found here

5.4 what to do if you want to get a copy of your data or want your data to be removed

  • All emails sent via our newsletter client will include a link that will allow you to unsubscribe from the mailing list

Notification about change of ownership or of control of data

We may choose to buy or sell assets. In the case that control of data changes to or from Ubiquity Press and a third party, or in the case of change of ownership of Ubiquity Press or of part of the business where the control of personal data is transferred, we will do our best to inform all affected users and present the options.

(Updated: 18 May 2018)