Author Guidelines

Journal of Sichuan University (Medical Science Edition) is a comprehensive peer-reviewed open-access medical scientific journal sponsored by the Sichuan University, a higher education institution directly subordinated to the Ministry of Education of the People’s Republic of China. Therefore, research and review papers of general significance that are written clearly and well organized will be given preference. The journal was originally founded in 1959 under the name Journal of Sichuan Medical College. Subsequently, the journal was renamed once in 1986 as the Journal of West China University of High Sciences and again in 2003 as the Journal of Sichuan University (Medical Sciences). Journal of Sichuan University (Medical Sciences), a bimonthly academic journal publishing peer-reviewed research in the field of medicine in general, it is distributed among readers in China and some other countries.

All papers, solicited and unsolicited, will be first assessed by a Reviewing Editor. Papers found unsuitable in terms of the overall requirements of the journal will be returned to the authors. The others will be sent for detailed review. Authors of these papers will be notified of acceptance, need for revision or rejection of the paper. It may be noted that papers once rejected cannot be resubmitted. Manuscripts are selected for publication according to the editorial assessment of their suitability and evaluation from independent reviewers. Papers are usually sent to two or more reviewers. Editorial staff will edit accepted papers to improve accuracy and clarity and shorten, if necessary.

Illustrations and other materials to be reproduced from other publications must be properly credited; it is the authors’ responsibility to obtain permission for reproduction of figures, tables, etc., from published sources (copies of letters of permission should be sent to the editor).

Declarations to be made regarding ethical issues

Manuscripts that deal with clinical findings should be enclosed with a statement on informed consent of the patients under study.

If humans and animals are the subject of a clinical study, it is essential for the study to have been carried out in accordance with the ethical standards of the country/countries where the research described in the article has been conducted. A declaration to that effect must accompany the manuscript.

Supplementary material

Detailed tables can be submitted as supplementary material, which will be published online. If tables with huge data are not submitted as supplementary material and are found suitable for online publishing only, the discretion to use these as supplementary materials lies with the journal. The authors will be informed about this during the processing of their manuscripts.

Any details and queries regarding supplementary material should be addressed to the corresponding author of the paper. The published material cannot be reproduced without permission from the author.

Authors’ conflict of interest statement

Authors must acknowledge the organizations that have provided financial support for their work. Any other conflict of interest must be declared while submitting the manuscripts.

Manuscript Preparation

All papers are to be written in English. Articles should be prepared strictly according to the template; please check the link.  Each article should have no more than 6 authors.

Structure of the Article

Please follow this logic in writing the paper: first, briefly highlight the idea, then describe the methods for achieving the goal and the planned results, and only after that proceed to the detailed presentation. When reviewing the literature, you should not simply list the sources, but analyze them. You should explain with specific examples what has already been done by other scholars, what tasks are ahead, and in which direction you plan to move, that is, you have to introduce the reader to the research background and explain the place of your study in it.

The pages should be numbered consecutively, starting with the title page and through the text, and reference list.

The structure of the manuscript should be organized as follows: title, author(s), affiliation(s) (institutions), city, country, e-mails of authors (preferably institutional), Abstract (in Chinese and English), Keywords (in Chinese and English), Introduction, Literature Review, Research Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions and Suggestions for Practical Use, Acknowledgements (can be added if necessary), References (in English and Chinese).

Title should be brief and informative, specific and amenable to indexing. It should identify if the study reports (human or animal) trial data, or is a systematic review, meta-analysis or replication study. When gene or protein names are included, the abbreviated name rather than full name should be used. It should be in Chinese and English contain less than 15 words, each starting with a capital letter. The Chinese title should be centered and typeset in SimSun 17. The English title should be justified and typeset in bold, Arial 8.5pt, single line spacing.

Authors’ full first and last names and affiliations (institutions) of the authors, including departments, city, country, should be listed in Chinese (typeset in SimSun 12.5, be centered and single-spaced) and in English (typeset in Arial 8.5 pt, justified, and italicized). At least one author should be designated as the corresponding author, and their email address should be indicated at the end of the affiliation section.

Abstract should be limited to 1 paragraph (200 words) and convey the main points of the paper, outline the results and conclusions, and explain the significance of the results. It should reflect only the contents of the original paper (no cited work). Any inessential abbreviations (those personally invented, in particular), any formulas, references to bibliography, figures and/or tables are inadmissible in the abstract. Typeset your Abstract in Arial 8.5 pt, alignment: justify; line spacing: single.

The abstract should include the following: the objective of the study; the methods used (including technical means such as instrumentation, etc.); the results of the trials; and the conclusions. Note the difference between Results and Conclusions: Results imply only a concrete result, belonging to a particular instance; and Conclusions describe a general case that needs to be generalized from the particular instance. When writing abstracts, avoid general statements and conclusions that are general and empty. Try to use the most specific language in the article to explain the research methods, processes, results and conclusions, so that the reader has a clear and comprehensive understanding of the author’s research work. Do not simply repeat the information already stated in the title; faithfully reflect the research work done and provide as much quantification as possible.

The editors recommend the authors to adhere to the following abstract template:

Objective: Tells reader the purpose of your research and the questions it intends to answer. E.g.: The article aims to study/analyze/assess…

FORMATTING TIPS:

• State your precise research purpose or question (1-2 sentences)

• Begin with “To”: “We aimed to…” or “The objective of this study was to…” using a verb that accurately captures the action of your study.
• Connect the verb to an object phrase to capture the central elements and purpose of the study, hypothesis, or research problem. Include details about the setting, demographics, and the problem or intervention you are investigating.
• Use the following verbs: To/We aimed to/The objective of this study was to…analyze, ascertain, assess, characterize, collect, describe, determine, establish, evaluate, examine, explain, identify, investigate, measure, present, produce, validate

Methods: This section explains the methods and process so that other researchers can assess, review, and replicate your study. E.g.: It describes a new method/idea (etc.) ..., based on ..., enabling to .... Using (describe the methods), the authors (describe the obtained results) .... As an example, we illustrate the proposed method/technique...

Our method/proposal allows to improve (any quantitative indicators by XX, X%)... The new method effectiveness evaluation is confirmed by the findings ....

FORMATTING TIPS:

• Explain the tools and steps of your research (1-3 sentences)

• Use the past tense if the study has been conducted; use the present tense if the study is in progress.
• Include details about the study design, sample groups and sizes, setting/location, duration of the study, variables, procedures, outcome measures, controls, and methods of analysis.
• To describe the study design, follow the patterns: “We conducted a qualitative analysis of…”; “A three-year longitudinal study of diabetic patients was performed…”; “We conducted a systematic review searching databases for…”; “We interviewed 34 Dutch general practitioners…”
• To describe sample groups and sizes, follow the patterns: “The data were retrieved from the clinical database from 2013 to 2016”. “This was a pilot interventional, single-center, first-in-human (FIH), open (no masking), uncontrolled, and single-assignment study.” “The study involved 198 women who underwent genetic amniocentesis and blood sampling in the middle of their trimester”. “Elderly patients with late-stage Alzheimer’s disease were identified…” “Sample groups were limited to patients with a history of smoking”. “Women who were eligible for breast cancer screening per the United States Preventative Services Taskforce guidelines were included.”

Results: This part summarizes the most important findings of your study. E.g.: New research results develop/supplement/improve ... and can be used for….

FORMATTING TIPS:

• Summarize the data you obtained (3-6 sentences)
• Use the past tense when describing the actions or outcomes of the research.
• Include results that answer the research question and that were derived from the stated methods; examine data by qualitative or quantitative means.
• State whether the research question or hypothesis was proven or disproven.
• Use the following verbs and phrases: “participated in the study/completed the treatment”; “changed/did not change significantly”; “had greater/lesser odds of…”; “were associated with…”; “response rate was…”; “The likelihood of ____ was found to be increased by…”; “adverse events occurred…”; “[number/kind of outcomes] were identified, including…”; “was/was not associated with…”
• To report quantitative results, follow the patterns: “Of 2321 women, overall adherence was 78.2%.” “The cataract surgery rate for 2013 was about 27 and increased to 37.3 in 2014. However, it declined to 25 in 2015 before it resumed to 36 in 2016.” “Symptoms of…were reported by 3,811 (80%) of 4,764 patients”; “Patients refusing antibiotics increased 23% from 2013 to 2016”.
• To report qualitative results, follow the patterns: “Many patients reported a long history of chest infection”; “Doctors reported generally high levels of workplace satisfaction”; “The results of the physiotherapy analysis were reproduced”. “There was no statistically significant difference in serum or amniotic fluid MCP1 levels between PTD and the control groups.” “The significant risk factors for UTI found in this study were gender, age, and occupation.” “Based on published findings, it is determined that OMT is clinically effective, cost efficient, a less invasive alternative to surgery, and a less toxic choice to pharmacologic drugs”

Conclusion summarizes the interpretation and implications of these results and presents recommendations for further research.

FORMATTING TIPS:

• Analyze the key findings (2-5 sentences): “This study confirms that…”; “[Result] indicates that…”; “…leads to fewer prescriptions for…;” “…was reliable/accurate”; “…is safe/well-tolerated/effective
• Summarize your interpretation of the results: “Overall, … was superior to … in terms of net clinical outcome in various groups of CrCl with AF patients.” “HPT may potentially extend into physiological changes with regards to immune response and should encourage future studies.”
• Use the present tense to discuss the findings and implications of the study results.
• Explain the importance of this research for medicine, science, or society: “This study provides new normative data for MCP-1 levels in amniotic fluid and maternal sera and is a valuable tool for future diagnostic and comparative studies.” “Implant-based reconstructions showed a greater likelihood of complications and re-intervention, globally creating superior costs when compared to autologous reconstructions”.
• Explain the implications of these results for medicine, science, or society: “…valid and reliable for routine use”; “…is drastically decreased after transplantation”; “…may result in functional improvement of the…”; “Our preliminary results indicate potential benefits of using [procedure/drug] in this group of patients”
• Discuss any major limitations of the study and suggest further actions or research that should be undertaken: “Additional studies on [area of study] are recommended to [aim of additional research]”; “However, this evidence should be further assessed in larger trials”; “This diagnostic accuracy may not be generalizable to all office laboratories”. “More high-quality and long-term clinical research are needed to further estimate the effects of …”.

Keywords: Not more than five keywords should be indicated separately; these should be chosen carefully and must not be phrases of several words. Typeset your keywords in Arial 8.5 pt, alignment: justify; line spacing: single. These keywords will be used for indexing.

The abstract and keywords should be presented in the Chinese and English languages, and their contents in English and Chinese should be consistent.

The main text: Typeset the main text in Times New Roman 11 pt in 2 columns with an interval between columns of 1 cm, alignment: justify, indentation: 6 mm, line spacing: single. 

Introduction: All papers should have a brief introduction (1.5-2 pages). The purpose of the introduction is to explain to readers all details of this research. Its role is to arouse the reader’s attention and let the reader have a general understanding of the paper. The current state of the research field should be reviewed carefully and key publications cited. The text should be intelligible to readers in different disciplines and special terms should be defined. This is the reader’s first impression of your paper, so it should be clear and concise. Include relevant background information on your topic, using in-text citations as necessary. Report new developments in the field, and state how your study fills gaps in the existing research. Focus on the specific problem you are addressing, along with its possible solutions, and outline the limitations of your study.

The contents to be described in the introduction are roughly as follows: (1) The rationale, purpose and background of the research. Including the question, the research object and its basic characteristics, what work has been done by the predecessors on this issue, what are the deficiencies; what problems are expected to be solved, what is the role and significance of the solution; what is the background of the research work. If you want to answer a lot of questions, you can only take a brief explanation. Usually, you can explain one problem in one or two sentences. (2) Theoretical basis, experimental basis and research methods. If you follow the known theory, principles, and methods, just mention a paragraph, or note the relevant literature. If a new concept or term is to be introduced, it should be defined or clarified. (3) The expected results and their status, role and significance should be written in a natural, general, concise and precise manner. In the introduction, diagrams, tables, and formulas are generally not allowed. You can also include a research question, hypothesis, and/or objectives at the end of this section.

FORMATTING TIPS:

• Organize your information from broad to narrow (general to particular). However, do not start too broad; keep the information relevant.

• You can use in-the-text citations in this section to situate your research within the body of literature. These citations should be numbered sequentially in the order they appear in the text [1], [2], etc., and are organized accordingly in the References section.

Methods/Materials: This is the part of your paper that explains how the research was done in no more than 2-3 pages. You should relate your research procedures in a clear, logical order so that other researchers can reproduce your results. Simply refer to the established methods you used, but describe any procedures that are original to your study in more detail. Give the name and version of any software used and make clear whether computer code used is available. Include any pre-registration codes.

FORMATTING TIPS:

• Identify the specific instruments you used in your research by including the manufacturer’s name and location in parentheses.

• Stay consistent with the order in which information is presented (e.g., quantity, temperature, stirring speed, refrigeration period).

Results: Now that you have explained how you gathered your research, you are to report what you actually found. In this section, taking no more than 6-8 pages, outline the main findings of your research. You need not include too many details, particularly if you are using tables and figures. While writing this section use the smallest number of words necessary to convey your statistics.

FORMATTING TIPS:

• Use appendices or supplementary materials if you have too much data.

• Use headings to help the reader follow along, particularly if your data are repetitive. Headings should be of three-level type. See Template for heading typesetting instructions (link).

Discussion: In this section, taking no more than 4-6 pages, you should interpret your findings for the reader in relation to previous research and the literature as a whole. Present your general conclusions, including an assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of the research and the implications of your findings. Resolve the hypothesis and/or research question you identified in the introduction. The findings and their implications should be discussed in the broadest context possible and limitations of the work highlighted. Future research directions may also be mentioned. This section may be combined with Results.

Remember, you must be prepared to justify your findings and conclusions, and one of the best ways to do this is through factual accuracy and the acknowledgment of opposing interpretations, data, and/or points of view.

FORMATTING TIPS:

• Use in-text citations to support your discussion.

• Do not repeat the information you presented in the results or the introduction unless it is necessary for a discussion of the overall implications of the research.

Conclusion: The conclusion is the final, overall summary of the entire paper. The conclusions should generally be listed in the order of 1), 2), 3), ..., or structured as paragraphs. Completely, accurately, and concisely point out the principles and their universality revealed by the results of investigations or experiments on the research subjects; whether there are any exceptions found in the research or problems that are difficult to explain and solve in this paper; The similarities and differences of research work (including others or authors themselves); the theoretical and practical significance and value of this paper; suggestions for further research on this topic.

Explain how your research fits within your field of study, and identify areas for future research. Even though you may not look forward to the process of formatting your research paper, it is important to present your findings clearly, consistently, and professionally. With the right paper format, your chances of publication increase, and your research will be more likely to make an impact in your field. Do not underestimate the details. They are the backbone of scientific writing and research.

FORMATTING TIPS:

• Keep this section short.

Acknowledgments: Write this paragraph as brief as possible giving credit to any institution responsible for funding the study (e.g., through a fellowship or grant) and any person (e.g., technical advisors or editors).

Conflicts of Interest: Authors must identify and declare any personal circumstances or interest that may be perceived as influencing the representation or interpretation of reported research results. If there is no conflict of interest, please state “The authors declare no conflict of interest.”

References: Here you list citation information for each source you used. The list of references should be arranged in the order in which the sources are presented in the paper (numbered citations). References should be taken over the past five years. The recommended minimum number of references should not be less than eight, and documents that are not officially published cannot be included. Before submitting the manuscript, please check each citation in the text against the References and vice-versa to ensure that they match exactly. It is important to format the references properly because all references will be linked electronically as completely as possible to the papers cited.

References should be formatted as follows:

All author names are written in the order of the first name and the last name. Chinese names cannot be abbreviated, Western names can be abbreviated, and abbreviations are omitted. Many authors only list the top three, followed by "et al." Where appropriate, it is recommended to give priority to the relevant papers in this journal as a reference. For references other than English, such as Chinese, German, Japanese, Russian, etc., please provide the corresponding English translation.

The format of the recording is as follows:

• Journal Articles:

[1] Author. Title. Abbreviated Journal Name, publication year, volume number (issue number): starting and ending pages number. [Journal]

Example: [1] BRESSON-HADNI S， SPAHR L， CHAPPUIS F， et al. Hepatic alveolar echinococcosis. Semin Liver Dis，2021，41(3): 393–408.

• Books and Book Chapters:

[2] Author 1 A, Author 2 B. Book Title, 3rd ed, Publisher: Publisher Location, Country, Year; pp. 154–196.

[3] Author 1 A, Author 2 B. Title of the chapter. In Book Title, 2nd ed, Editor 1, A., Editor 2, B., Eds, Publisher: Publisher Location, Country, Year; Volume 3, pp. 154–196.

• Conference Proceedings

[4] Author 1 A B, Author 2 C D, Author 3 E F. Title of Presentation. In Title of the Collected Work (if available), Proceedings of the Name of the Conference, Location of Conference, Country, Date of Conference; Editor 1, Editor 2, Eds. (if available); Publisher: City, Country, Year (if available); Abstract Number (optional), Pagination (optional).

• Thesis:

[5]. Author 1, A.B. Title of Thesis. Level of Thesis, Degree-Granting University, Location of University, Date of Completion.

• Websites:

[6] Title of Site. Available online: URL (accessed on Day Month Year).
Unlike published works, websites may change over time or disappear, so we encourage you create an archive of the cited website using a service such as WebCite. Archived websites should be cited using the link provided as follows:
10. Title of Site. URL (archived on Day Month Year).

FORMATTING TIPS:

• While doing your final proofread, ensure that the reference list entries are consistent with the in-text citations (i.e., no missing or conflicting information).

• At least 70% of sources in References should contain DOI indices, e.g., https://doi.org/10.35741/issn.0258-2724.54.3.4 . If a DOI is lacking, it is recommended to add a link to any online source of a paper. All links have to be active.

• Be sure to verify the correctness of the names of authors, pages and titles of journals in the paper lists at http://www.crossref.org/ (there is a search engine box in the center on the page – copy the source title into it and verify the correctness of the References).

• The list of references should be given in English and Chinese.

Tables and figures should be black and white. They should be referred to in numerical order. Number the figures and tables sequentially, according to their appearance in the text. Place them after a paragraph referring to the corresponding figure or table, not inserted in the paragraph. Figures should be followed by a short description in the main text. All Figures and Tables should have a short explanatory title and caption in Chinese (typeset in SimSun 7.5, centered) and English (typeset in Arial 7.5, bold, centered).

All symbols and abbreviations must be defined, and used only when necessary. Superscripts, subscripts and ambiguous characters should be clearly indicated. Units of measure should be metric or, preferably, SI.

Figures: Line drawings should be roughly twice the final printed size. Photomicrographs and other photographs that require it must have a scale bar, which should be defined clearly in the legend. Primary data should be submitted as far as possible (e.g., actual photographs of electrophoretic gels rather than idealized diagrams).

General dimensions of the figure:

Half page format: no more than 77mm wide

Full page format: no more than 160mm wide

Letters in the figure should be well readable and proportionally commensurable, and in the final, printed size, the font should be 7pt for normal text and not less than 6 pt for captions and symbols in the captions.

Tables: Number the tables sequentially, according to their appearance in the text. Place footnotes to the tables below the body of the tables and make the captions to them in superior small letters. Avoid using vertical rulers. Be careful when using the tables and once again make sure that the data given in the table do not duplicate the results described somewhere in the article.

FORMATTING TIPS:

• Captions should be numbered, typeset in ARIAL 9, line spacing: single.

• Capitalize the titles of specific tables and figures when you refer to them in the text (e.g., "see Table 3"; "in Figure 4").

Terminology: Stay consistent with the terms you use. Generally, short forms can be used once the full term has been introduced:

• Full terms versus acronyms (e.g., deoxyribonucleic acid versus DNA);

• English names versus Greek letters (e.g., alpha versus α); and

• Species names versus short forms (e.g., Staphylococcus aureus versus S. aureus).

• One way to ensure consistency is to use standard scientific terminology. You can refer to the following resources, but if you are not sure which guidelines are preferred, check with your target journal.

• For gene classification, use GeneCards, The Mouse Genome Informatics Database, and/or genenames.org.

• For chemical nomenclature, refer to the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) Compendium of Chemical Terminology (the Gold Book) and the IUPAC–IUB Combined Commission on Biochemical Nomenclature.

• For marine species names, use the World Register of Marine Species (WoRMS) or the European Register of Marine Species (ERMS).

• Italics must be used correctly for scientific terminology.

• Species names, which are usually in Greek or Latin, are italicized (e.g., Staphylococcus aureus).

• Genes are italicized, but proteins are not.

Jurisdiction: The jurisdiction for all disputes concerning submitted articles, published material, advertisement, subscription and sale will be at courts/tribunals situated in China only.

The authors are asked to provide the raw data in connection with a paper for editorial review.

The authors should ensure they have written entirely original works, and if they have used the work and/or words of others that this has been appropriately cited or quoted. Authors should not publish manuscripts describing essentially the same research in more than one journal or primary publication. Submitting the same manuscript to more than one journal concurrently constitutes unethical publishing behavior and is unacceptable. Proper acknowledgement of the work of others must always be given. Authors should cite publications that have been influential in determining the nature of the reported work. A paper should contain sufficient detail and references to permit others to replicate the work. Fraudulent or knowingly inaccurate statements constitute unethical behavior and are unacceptable.

Authorship should be limited to those who have made a significant contribution to the conception, design, execution, or interpretation of the reported study. All those who have made significant contributions should be listed as co-authors (maximum 6 authors). Where there are others who have participated in certain substantive aspects of the research project, they should be acknowledged or listed as contributors or you can cite them, cite their work. The corresponding author should ensure that all appropriate co-authors and no inappropriate co-authors are included on the paper, and that all co-authors have seen and approved the final version of the paper and have agreed to its submission for publication. All authors should disclose in their manuscript any financial or other substantive conflict of interest that might be construed to influence the results or interpretation of their manuscript. All sources of financial support for the project should be disclosed. When an author discovers a significant error or inaccuracy in his/her own published work, it is the author´s obligation to promptly notify the journal editor or publisher and cooperate with the editor to retract or correct the paper.

The English language of the paper needs academic editing and proofreading.

We recommend that the authors use the academic text editing service for the scientific articles, but not just proofreading. Please use the American English option.

We recommend the use of large, trusted companies with editors having a Ph.D. degree.

You should also attach an editing certificate or use the editorial office services.

Articles that are not edited by native English speakers are not allowed for publication. The editorial team provides academic proofreading services for the authors at additional cost.

Manuscripts which do not reflect the journal scope will be excluded.

The review output will be one of the following decisions:

A) Accept;

B) Accept with minor changes (several points regarding bibliographic references or other formal mistakes or lapsus linguae in the text);

C) Reject (the paper does not correspond to the scope of our journal, author’s malpractice, an incorrect methodology procedure, not an original study, not an innovative study, no research done, a study with no relevant citation, a study with an insufficient language terminology and a poor level, a study considered by reviewers as not a scientific one but a popular one, a study with nearly no scientific impact in the research field).

If required, the authors need to revise the paper according to the reviewer’s comments. After publishing, the authors may download the paper from the journal website.