Instructions for authors

Original articles and editorial correspondence should be e-mailed directly to the editor, Dr Emma Worrell.

Authors are no longer required to send hard copies but are instructed to e-mail the document directly to the editor. Please ensure images, tables and graphs are placed in the document in order of the author’s preference, and remember to compress documents and images prior to sending.

Articles will be either full length papers or technical notes. Full length papers should aim for a 2500 maximum word count with a maximum of 30 references and technical notes 1500 words with a maximum of 10 references. Letters to the editor are also welcome but should not exceed 500 words.

The editor cannot accept responsibility for lost documents. The editor will email the author to acknowledge receipt of the article.

Articles are accepted on the understanding that they have not been published or submitted simultaneously to another journal in the English language.

Rejected articles will be returned to the author/s by e-mail. Returned articles will be accompanied by constructive comment for the author. Every effort will be made to help author’s gain publication.

The editor reserves the right to make editorial and literary corrections. Any opinions expressed or policies advocated do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the editor.

Ethics

Papers that contain the results of human and/or animal studies will only be considered for publication if it is made clear that a high standard of ethics was applied in carrying out the investigations. Appropriate ethical approval should be gained from the relevant ethical committees related to the institution in which the study was carried out and that subjects gave informed consent to take part.

Copyright

In order for the Institute of Maxillofacial Prosthetists and Technologists (IMPT) to ensure maximum dissemination and copyright protection of material published in the journal copyright must be explicitly transferred from the author to the IMPT.

The author/s may be assured that no limitation will be put on your freedom to use material contained in the paper without requesting permission, provided acknowledgment is made to this journal as the original source of publication.

Presentation of articles

Articles will only be accepted when presented in the format described below. These guidelines standardise the text and help the editorial board review articles more efficiently. Failure to follow these simple guidelines will result in the article being immediately returned for formatting.

Articles should be typed in size 12 Times New Roman font, be double line spaced and include page numbers in the bottom right hand corner. The document should be set out as follows: Title page, abstract, key words, introduction, method and materials, results, discussion and conclusion. Images should be se into the text in the appropriate location. References are at the end of the paper in the order, as they appear in the text.

Title page

This page should include: a succinct title of the article (in bold and centered), name of the author/s with full postal addresses, positions held, e-mail address and contact phone number. The main author for any correspondence should be listed first. Sources of support in the form of grants should be included at the bottom of the title page.

Abstract

This should consist of between 100 to 150 (maximum) words summarising the contents of the article. Up to five key words should be included to accurately identify the subject of the paper.

Headings

Headings should be appropriate to the nature of the paper. It should be noted that headings enhance the readability of a paper. Headings should be typed in bold using lower case and start with a capital but not be capitals throughout. Headings should be set in the left hand margin.

Sub-headings

These should be set out in lower case to the left hand side of the page in bold and italic.

Introduction

This should be a short preface introducing the reader to the subject matter, including background and the aim of the paper.

Method and materials

The name of suppliers of materials, instruments etc. should be entered in brackets at an appropriate point in the text, using lower case with an initial capital letter, followed by the full address. Remember with research and technical papers, the purpose is often to allow the reader to perform the experiment or construct the device described in the article.

Results

These should be clearly set out. Tables are the most useful means of presenting data but other forms of presentation such as bar charts or pie charts are also acceptable.

Discussion

This is the section where the author should evaluate the results or methodology of the paper in a critical fashion and make reference as to why the subject matter is relevant to the journal.

Conclusion

A brief summary of the paper and what it has achieved.

References

The accuracy of references is the responsibility of the author. References should be entered in the Vancouver style, superscripted after the appropriate text and in numerical order at the end of the sentence.

For example:

The method of using autogenous bone has a logic which appeals to many neurosurgeons but is not without complications.^1,2

If there are more than two numbers cited in continuous sequence, connect the first and last with a hyphen: e.g. ^{1-4, 5-9} otherwise use commas: e.g. ^1,2,4,5

The actual references are then placed at the end of the article in numerical order as they appear in the text for the reader’s convenience. References to journal articles should include the author’s surname and initials. List all authors when five or fewer. If six or more, list the first three then “et al”. Follow this with the full title of the article, journal title abbreviations only e.g. Journal of Dental Research should be written J Dent Res. Followed by the year of publication, edition and /or volume number and first and last page numbers.

For example:

1. Kingsmill VJ, Boyde A, Davis GR, Howell PG, Rawlinson SC. Changes to bone mineral and matrix in response to a soft diet. J Dent Res. 2010, 89 (5): 510-4

References to books should be set out as follows:

1. Ward Booth P. Maxillofacial surgery. 2^nd ed. Churchill Livingstone. Dover M. Advanced oral implantology. Chap 80. 1550. 2007

Electronic citations should be set out as follows:

Websites are referenced with their URL and access date, and as much other information as is available. Access date is important as websites can be updated and URLs change. The "date accessed" can be later than the acceptance date of the paper, and it can be just the month accessed.

Electronic journal articles

1. Morse SS. Factors in the emergency of infectious diseases. Emerg Infect Dis 1995 Jan-Mar:1(1). www.cdc.gov/nciod/EID/vol1no1/morse.htm (accessed 5 Jun 1998).

Digital Object Identifiers (DOIs)

DOIs are a unique string created to identify a piece of intellectual property in an online environment; particularly useful for articles which have been published online before appearing in print (and therefore the article has not yet been assigned the traditional volume, issue and page number reference). The DOI is a permanent identifier of all versions of an article, whether raw manuscript or edited proof, online or in print.

How to cite articles before they have appeared in print

1. Alwick K, Vronken M, de Mos T, et al. Cardiac risk factors: prospective cohort study. Ann Rheum Dis Published Online First: 5 February 2004. doi:10.1136/ard.2003.001234

How to cite articles once they have appeared in print

1. Vole P, Smith H, Brown N, et al. Treatments for malaria: randomised controlled trial. Ann Rheum Dis 2003:327:765–8 doi:10.1136/ard.2003.001234 [published Online First: 5 February 2002].

Editor’s note on referencing:

Vancouver style referencing is the preferred system as it is less disruptive to the flow of text. If a publication has multiple references however, re-numbering and re-arrangements can be time consuming. For this reason the editor strongly recommends authors consider using a reference management system, such as Reference Manager or Endnote, if a paper has multiple references, i.e. more than ten. All references must be referred to in the text.

Tables, graphs and images

Tables and graphs should have a short descriptive title below each one and any footnotes suitably identified. The axis should be clearly labeled and the information within the table clear.

A guideline of up to 8 images per article is suggested but the editor is open to further images if it aids the clarity of the paper. The author should insert images into the text in the preferred position, however this cannot be guaranteed in the final draft. Captions should appear below each image with the figure number and text. Avoid joining images together and if side by side then label a and b accordingly, e.g. Figure 1a, Figure 1b. Figures must be referred to in the text and mentioned in numerical order.

Ideally, submit your figures in TIFF or EPS format.

For black & white images, the format should be either TIFF or EPS. The resolution should be in 300 DPI.

For colour, the format should be either tiff or eps in CMYK. The resolution should be 300 DPI.

For line-art, vector format is preferable. Otherwise, the resolution should be 1200 DPI.

Patient confidentiality

Where images include recognisable individuals care must be taken to ensure consent for publication has been given. It is vital to ensure that not only is consent gained but also that the patient is fully aware of the intended use of the image, i.e. for teaching or publication. If identity is not essential to the image then crop accordingly. Patient consent is the author’s responsibility and a copy of the consent gained should be included with the submission. This can be on your own photographic consent form signed by the patient or guardian.

Borrowed images

Permission to use borrowed images or tables/graphs must be obtained and it is the author’s responsibility to do so. This may be placed directly alongside the image or at the end of the paper within acknowledgements. Borrowed material must be acknowledged in the following style: “Reproduced by the kind permission of (insert publisher) from (reference author/s)”. A signed copy of consent from the original author must be included.

Presentations

If the author has presented the paper previously, please include details of where and when the paper was presented immediately following the abstract.

Abbreviations and units

Avoid abbreviations in the title and abstract. Abbreviations should be used in brackets after their first full introduction: e.g. “The model is obtained from a computed tomography (CT) scan.” The abbreviation can then be used throughout the text from this point onwards without brackets. Units should be expressed in metric, although imperial is acceptable for contributions from the USA.

Authorship

Details of authorship must be declared with each submission to the journal. The IMPT recommend that authorship be based on: a substantial contribution to the conception or design of the work, the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work, the drafting, revising or critical analysis of the intellectual content. Authorship includes the approval of the final version and agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work, ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

An author should be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for specific parts of the work. Only one corresponding author per article will be acknowledged. The corresponding author takes primary responsibility for communication with the journal during the manuscript submission, editorial review, publication process, and ensures that all the journal’s administrative requirements, such as providing details of authorship, ethics committee approval, clinical trial registration documentation, and gathering conflict of interest forms and statements, are properly completed and declared. At the IMPT we want all authors included on a paper to fulfil the criteria of authorship.