Instructions for authors

Aim and scope
The quarterly Medical Studies/Studia Medyczne (ISSN 1899-1874) is an international, peer-reviewed, open access journal on clinical and pre-clinical research.
It publishes article types including Research Papers, Reviews, Editorials, Communications, etc.
Our aim is to encourage scientists to publish their experimental and theoretical results in as much detail as possible.

Subject Areas:
This journal covers all topics related to clinical and pre-clinical medicine.
Topics of interest include:
Cardiology
Clinical Pharmacology
Clinical Psychology & Psychiatry
Dermatology
Endocrinology & Metabolism
Epidemiology & Public Health
Gastroenterology & Hepatopancreatobiliary Medicine
Hematology
Immunology
Infectious diseases
Microbiology
Neurology
Neurobiology and clinical neuroscience
Nephrology & Urology
Oncology
Ophthalmology
Orthopedics
Otolaryngology
Pulmonology
Stomatology
Surgery

All original papers must fulfil the requirements of the Helsinki Declaration from 1989. In justified cases in formation must be attached about the consent of the Bioethical Commission concerning the investigation, or relevant information should be sent. In the original papers it is forbidden to provide personal data, unless the patient consciously gives his or her consent, e.g. for the publication of photos.

Medical Studies accepts the following categories of articles:

1. Original articles should not exceed 20 printed pages (4000 words - about 20 typewritten double-spaced 8½" 11" sheets). Each article should contain structured abstract (250 words), divided such as the text of the manuscript. Subject matter should be organized under suitable headings and subheadings such as: Structured Abstract, Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, Acknowledgments and References. Footnotes should be avoided and their contents incorporated into the text.

The graphical abstract as a figure in the TIFF or JPG is mandatory. This abstract must have a figure legend. The graphical abstract should clearly present the current new findings without excess of details using simple labels.
Technical requirements
• Size: an image with a minimum of 531 x 1328 pixels (h x w) or proportionally more. The image should be readable at a size of 5 x 13 cm using a regular screen resolution of 96 dpi
• Font type and font size: as in the main text of the manuscript
• Preferred file types: TIFF, or PDF

2. Research letters should be no more than 1500 words - 4 manuscript pages, excluding title page, references, tables and figures. No abstract is required. The authors are strongly recommended to prepare the letters with no more than 15 references, no more than 2 tables or 1 figure, and no more than 5 authors. Keywords and name and mailing address of all authors should be included.

3. Review articles should follow the format for a regular article, but should be submitted only after consultation with the Editors. Each article should contain unstructured abstract (150 words) and up to 6 key words.

4. Preliminary results Short abstract with subheadings (150 words), max number of words 2000, max number of references 20, max 2 figures/tables, all other data in the appendix.
This for is dedicated to all kinds of research, which authors have important preliminary results (including RCTs) that would like to present. It is also the suitable form for the study design.

5. Clinical vignettes This category is intended for brief highly informative cases illustrated with interesting or rare images with detailed captions. Electrocardiograms, echocardiograms, CT scans, X-ray scans, pathology specimens, and other imaging techniques may be described in this category. Due to space considerations, only 1 figure is allowed for publication in print, any additional figures may be published as online-only supplementary data. The figure should contain no more than six panels in total (labeled A, B, C, and so on) and arrows illustrating and abnormal findings should be used where possible to improve clarity. The main body of the manuscript should not exceed 500 words (excluding title page, references and figure legend) and up to 5 references, and no more than 6 authors.

Medical Studies does not accept CASE REPORTS any longer. Case reports should be submitted as Clinical vignettes.

Manuscript type	Abstract	Key words	Word limit (main body of the manuscript)	References	Tables / figure*	No. of authors
Original article	Yes, structured, 250 words	3 - 6	4000	40	6	12
Research letter	No	No	1500	15	2	6
Review papers	Yes, unstructured, 150 words	3 - 6	5000	70	6	6
Preliminary results	Yes, structured, 150 words	No	2000	20	2	6
Clinical vignetess	No	No	500	5	1	6

*all tables and figures

PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS
Articles must be written in English, with either British or American spelling used consistently throughout. Authors not entirely familiar with English usage are advised to seek the assistance of an English speaker; correct style is the responsibility of the authors. - The length of original article should not exceed 20 printed pages including text, illustrations, tables, and references. Research letter notes should not exceed 4 printed pages. - Manuscripts should be typed, double-spaced, and fully corrected. Allow a margin at least 3 cm at the top, bottom and left side of the page. Text should not be justified, but flush left.
- The title page of each paper should indicate: the author's name, title of the paper, the institute where the work was conducted, complete name and address for correspondence with telephone and fax numbers, and e-mail address if available; running head not exceed 40 characters including space.
- The textual material of the article should be organized in a standard form with separate: Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion and References. Review articles should be divided into sections and subsections as appropriate without numbering.
- Do not underline in the text. Avoid footnotes. When essential, they are numbered consecutively and typed at the foot of the appropriate page.
- All dimensions and measurements must be specified in the metric system.
- The source of any drug and special reagent should be identified. Indicate doses and use the international names.
- Particular attention needs to be paid to the selection of appropriate analysis of data and the results of statistical test should be incorporated in the results section. The Statistics Editor will check the statistical analysis of each submitted manuscript. The Editors reserve the right to check raw data.
- The nomenclature used should conform to the current edition of the Nomina Anatomica, Nomina Anatomica Veterinaria or to the Nomina Anatomica. Avium, Eponyms (e.g., Fallopian tube, Eustachian tube) should not be used.
- Legends of figures should be typed on separate sheet.
- Abbreviations should be explained in full when first used in the text, table or figure.
- Tables should be prepared in A4 format. All abbreviations used need to be explained underneath a table. Tables should be numbered using Arabic numerals.
-Figures should be produced using computer techniques, in Microsoft Excel or Word software, in a black and white version. All abbreviations used require, each time, an explanation underneath a figure. Figures should be numbered using Arabic numerals. Pictures (in a resolution usable for print: 300 dpi) should form separate sets – the recommended formats are: *tif, *jpg.

Acknowledgments
These regard people or institutions who have contributed to the paper’s creation, including financial sources owing to which the paper came into existence. The people mentioned in the acknowledgements must give consent to the disclosure of their names. It is the author’s responsibility to obtain such a consent.

References
References should be placed at the end of the work - written in the same font as the text. The arrangement of references must comply with the Vancouver standard (author-number) in the order of citations in the work.

Please include the surname, first letters of names, title of the work, abbreviation of the journal title without dots (in accordance with the current list of journals indexed in Index Medicus NLM, available at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog?Db=journals&Cmd =DetailsSearch&Term=currentlyindexed%5BAll%5D),year, volume and start and end pages.

All authors of the work are required.

Original works should include up to 30 items.

Review works should include up to 50 items.Each publication should be placed on a new line and the item number should be given in square brackets.

Examples of correct reference writing, in accordance with the Vancouver/ICMJE convention used by MEDLINE: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html

Article:
Vant RM, Vrijland WW, Lange JF, Hop WC, Jeekel J, Bonjer HJ. Mesh repair of incisional hernia: comparison of laparoscopic and open repair. Eur J Surg. 2002;168:684-689.

Book:
Hawking S.W. A Brief History of Time: From the Big Bang to Black Holes. New York: Bantam Books; 1988.

Chapter in the book:
Bron J.D. Early events in the infection of the arthopod gut by pathogenic insect viruses. In: Maramorosch K, Shope RE, editors. Invertebrate Immunity. New York, San Francisco, London: Academic Press; 1976. p. 80-111.

Orkiszewska A. Studies in surgical patients. In: Rowiński W, Dziak A, eds. Surgery for nurses. Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Lekarskie PZWL: 1999; 4: pp. 48-72.

Links to online publications are permitted only in the absence of adequate data in published literature.

The editor reserves the right to make corrections.

Clinical trials
Medical Studies is published in accordance with ICMJE policies and recommendations. The ICMJE requires - and recommends that all medical journal editors require - registration of clinical trials in a public trials registry at or before the time of first patient enrollment as a condition of consideration for article publication.

The ICMJE defines a clinical trial as any research project that prospectively assigns people or a group of people to an intervention, with or without concurrent comparison or control groups, to study the relationship between a health-related intervention and a health outcome. Health-related interventions are those used to modify a biomedical or health-related outcome; examples include drugs, surgical procedures, devices, behavioural treatments, educational programs, dietary interventions, quality improvement interventions, and process-of-care changes. Health outcomes are any biomedical or health-related measures obtained in patients or participants, including pharmacokinetic measures and adverse events.

The ICMJE accepts publicly accessible registration in any registry that is a primary register of the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) that includes the minimum acceptable 24-item trial registration data set or in ClinicalTrials.gov, which is a data provider to the WHO ICTRP.

In accordance with the ICMJE recommendations, the Editors of Medical Studies require authors to provide all necessary information regarding the registered study when submitting the article for publication: name of the register, Main ID, Public Title, Date of Registration. The data provided by the author are verified by the editors.

More information on this can be found here www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/clinical-trial-registration.html

Source: ICMJE, Clinical Trials, www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/publishing-and-editorial-issues/clinical-trial-registration.html

Statement
A statement should be attached to the paper that it was not published before and that it was not submitted for print to any other journal, and that the author gives consent to publish the paper on-line.

All the authors are equally charged with legal and substantive responsibility for any incorrectness connected with preparation of the paper.

Editorial revision (review)
All papers are reviewed in accordance with modern requirements of assessment of such types of works. Papers are assessed anonymously by reviewers, and the author receives a notification from the editorial department about the acceptance or rejection of the paper. The author may provide names of people who (in their opinion) should not review the article. Text correction is performed by the first author or one of the co-authors. The Editorial Department returns papers not qualified for print on demand only.

Research and review submissions from the Editor-in-Chief and other journal staff members are processed by the Associate Editors who declare no conflicts of interest in the journal's online submission system. The Editor-in-Chief does not have access to their own submissions and cannot influence the selection of peer reviewers.

Reviewer comments are drafted by experts in a given thematic field on the basis of double-blind peer review, which means that the reviewer and author identities are masked. Submitted manuscripts are evaluated by at least two external reviewers. The Editor-in-Chief selects reviewers based on the submission topic and experts’ academic credentials (based on their academic achievements and review experience).

The rules for reviewing papers comply with the guidelines of the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (https://www.gov.pl/web/science/ministry1). Additional guidance on peer review is available from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7944958/.

• The publisher acquires exclusive copyrights to the printed papers, including the rights to publish in print, on electronic and other carriers and on the Internet.