The Journal of the Formosan Medical Association is the peer-reviewed publication of the Formosan Medical Association, based in Taipei, Taiwan. The JFMA invites original contri butions relating to all fields of medicine and related disciplines that are of interest to the medical profession.

Authors are required to be in compliance with theUniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (URMs); current URMs are available at External link http://www.icmje.org.

Manuscript Submission

Online submission
The JFMA accepts online submission of manuscripts through Elsevier's Editorial System (EES). This system can be accessed at External link http://ees.elsevier.com/jfma/. This site will guide authors stepwise through the submission process. Contact the JFMA Editorial Office if help is required.

Editorial Office
1, Chang-Te Street, Taipei 100, Taiwan
Tel: (+886) (0) 2 2381-0367
Fax: (+886) (0) 2 2389-6716
E-mail: jfmaed@fma.org.tw


Other methods of submission
If you are unable to submit your manuscript via the EES, you may submit your manuscript and figures as e-mail attachments to the JFMA Editorial Office.

Manuscripts may also be submitted directly to the North American Regional Editor at:

T.-C. Wu, MD, PhD
JFMA Regional Editor (North America)
Professor, Departments of Pathology, Oncology, Obstetrics and Gynecology,
and Molecular Microbiology and Immunology
The Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions,
CRB II Room 309, 1550 Orleans Street
Baltimore, MD 21231, USA.
Tel: (+1) (410) 614-3899
Fax: (+1) (443) 287-4295
E-mail: wutc@jhmi.edu

Important information
  • Articles submitted should be in Microsoft Word document format and prepared in the simplest form possible. We will add in the correct font, font size, margins and so on according to the journal's style.
  • You may use automatic page numbering, but do NOT use other kinds of automatic formatting such as footnotes, endnotes, headers and footers.
  • Put text, references, and table/figure legends in one file.
  • Figures must be submitted as separate picture files, at the correct resolution of a minimum of 600 dpi. The files should be named according to the figure number and format, e.g. "Fig1.tif", "Fig2.jpg".

Please ensure that the following documents are included (refer also to the checklist that follows these author instructions):
(1) Cover Letter. This must include the title of the manuscript, the name, address, telephone and fax numbers, e-mail address, and signature of the corresponding author.
(2) Authorship Statement. Please use the form that follows these author instructions. ALL the authors' signatures must be included.
(3) Conflict of Interest Disclosure Statement (see relevant section below).
(4) Copyright Transfer Agreement. Please use the form that follows these author instructions.
(5) Articles covering the use of human samples in research and human experiments must be accompanied by a letter of approval from the relevant review committee (see relevant section below).
(6) Articles covering the use of animals in experiments must be accompanied by a letter of approval from the relevant authorities.
(7) Articles where human subjects can be identified in descriptions, photographs or pedigrees must be accompanied by a signed statement of informed consent to publish (in print and online) the descriptions, photographs and pedigrees from each subject who can be identified (see relevant section below).
(8) Where material has been reproduced from other copyrighted sources, the letter(s) of permission from the copyright holder(s) to use the copyrighted sources must be supplied.

Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest

All authors are required to sign and submit the following financial disclosure statement at the time of manuscript submission:
I certify that all my affiliations with or financial involvement in, within the past 5 years and foreseeable future, any organization or entity with a financial interest in or financial conflict with the subject matter or materials discussed in the manuscript are completely disclosed (e.g. employment, consultancies, honoraria, stock ownership or options, expert testimony, grants or patents received or pending, royalties).

Authors who have no relevant financial interests should provide a statement indicating that they have no financial interests related to the material in the manuscript. Any non-financial conflicts of interest should also be explicitly declared in your own words.

Ethical Approval of Studies and Informed Consent

For human or animal experimental investigations, appropriate institutional review board or ethics committee approval is required, and such approval should be stated in the methods section of the manuscript. For those investigators who do not have formal ethics review Instructions to Authors committees, the principles outlined in the Declaration ofHelsinki should be followed (World Medical Association. Declaration of Helsinki: Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects. Available at External link http://www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/17c.pdf).
For investigations of human subjects, state explicitly in the methods section of the manuscript that informed consent was obtained from all participating adult subjects and from parents or legal guardians for minors or incapacitated adults, together with the manner in which informed consent was obtained (i.e. oral or written).

Identification of Patients in Descriptions, Photographs and Pedigrees

A signed statement of informed consent to publish (in print and online) patient descriptions, photographs and pedigrees should be obtained from all subjects (parents or legal guardians for minors) who can be identified (including by the subjects themselves) in such written descriptions, photographs or pedigrees. Such persons should be shown the manuscript before its submission. Omitting data or making data less specific to de-identify patients is acceptable, but changing any such data is not acceptable.

Previous Publication or Duplicate Submission

Submitted manuscripts are considered with the understanding that they have not been published previously in print or electronic format (except in abstract or poster form) and are not under consideration in totality or in part by another publication or electronic medium.

Basic Criteria

Articles should be written in English (using American English spelling) and meet the following basic criteria: the material is original, the information is important, the writing is clear (clinical or laboratory jargon is to be avoided), the study methods are appropriate, the data are valid, and the conclusions are reasonable and supported by the data.

For manuscripts that are judged by the Editors to be written in poor English but otherwise worthy to be considered for publication, authors are required to pay for the English polishing of their manuscript. Otherwise, the Editorial Office reserves the right to reject the manuscript for publication.

Article Categories

The categories of articles that are published are:
- Perspectives
- Review Articles
- Original Articles
- Case Reports
- Brief Communications
- Correspondence
- Letters to the Editor

Please select the category that best describes your paper. If your paper does not fall into any of the above categories, please contact the Editorial Office.

For residents of Taiwan, at least one author must be a member of the Formosan Medical Association, except for those who have been invited to contribute.

Manuscript Preparation

The format of manuscripts for the JFMA must comply with the 5th edition of the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (Ann Intern Med 1997;126:36.47).

Text, including tables, references and figure legends, should be typed double-spaced on one side of A4 (2010 x 280 mm) paper.

Pages should be numbered consecutively, beginning with the title page. Arabic numbers should be used.

Title Page
The title page is the first page and must contain the following information:
• category of paper
• manuscript title
• the names (spelled out in full) of all the authors and their institutions (i.e. Department, University, City, Post Code, Country)
• corresponding author details (e-mail address, mailing address, telephone numbers)
• where applicable, authors' Chinese names, affiliations and corresponding address should appear in Chinese characters below the English information
• short running title not exceeding 50 characters

Abstract
The second page should contain a concise abstract and up to 5 relevant key words/MeSH terms in alphabetical order. Abstracts for original articles should be structured and no more than 300 words in length, with the section headings:
• Background/Purpose: briefly explain the importance of the study topic and state a precise study question or purpose
• Methods: briefly introduce the methods used to perform the study; include information on the study design, setting, subjects, interventions, outcome measures and analyses as appropriate
• Results: briefly present the significant results, with data and statistical details such as p values where appropriate; be sure that information in the abstract matches that in the main text
• Conclusion: state the meaning of your findings, being careful to address the study question directly and to confine your conclusions to aspects covered in the abstract; give equal emphasis to positive and negative findings
• Key Words: these should be taken from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of Index Medicus (External link http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/meshhome.html)

Abstracts for Review Articles, Case Reports and Brief Communications are unstructured and no more than 200 words, but should nevertheless include information on the background/purpose of the report, methods, results (or case report), and conclusions.

No abstract is required for Perspectives, Correspondence, and Letters to the Editor.

Main Text
The main text should begin on the third page. For Original Articles and Brief Communications, it should be organized into sections as follows: Introduction, Materials (or Patients or Subjects) and Methods, Results, and Discussion. Subheadings in long papers are acceptable if needed for clarification and ease of reading. Sections for Case Report are: Introduction, Case Report, and Discussion.

Acknowledgments
General acknowledgments for consultations, statistical analysis, etc., should be listed concisely at the end of the text, including the names of the individuals who were directly involved. Consent should be obtained from those individuals before their names are listed in this section. Those acknowledged should not include secretarial, clerical or technical staff whose participation was limited to the performance of their normal duties.

Funding/Support and Conflicts of Interest
All financial and material support for the research and work from internal or external agencies, including commercial companies, should be clearly and completely identified in a Funding/Support Statement. Ensure that any financial or non-financial conflicts of interest are explicitly declared.

Abbreviations
Abbreviations should be kept to a minimum. Where a term/definition will be continually referred to, it must be written in full, followed by the subsequent abbreviation in brackets, when it first appears in the abstract and text. Thereafter, the abbreviation may be used.

Names of Drugs, Devices and Other Products
Use the Recommended International Non-proprietary Name (rINN) for medicinal substances, unless the specific trade name of a drug is directly relevant to the discussion. For devices and other products, the generic term should be used, unless the specific trade name is directly relevant to the discussion. If the trade name is given, then the manufacturer name and the city, state and country location of the manufacturer must be provided.

Units
Please use the metric system for the expression of length, height, weight, mass, area and volume. Temperatures are to be given in degrees Celsius. Please use Systéme International (SI) units for all hematologic and clinical chemistry measurements, with the exception of blood pressure values which are to be reported in mmHg.

Personal Communications and Unpublished Data
These sources cannot be included in the reference list but may be described in the text. The author(s) must give the full name and highest academic degree of the person, the date of the communication, and indicate whether it was in oral or written (letter, fax, e-mail) form. A signed statement of permission should be included from each individual identified as a source of information in a personal communication or as a source for unpublished data.

References
In general, the number of references should not exceed 50. Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of their references and for correct text citation.

In the main text, tables and figure legends
• References should be identified using superscripted numbers, and numbered consecutively in order of appearance in the text and placed after punctuation. References cited in tables or figure legends should be included in sequence at the point where the table or figure is first mentioned in the main text.
• Do not cite uncompleted work or work that has not yet been accepted for publication (i.e. "unpublished observation", "personal communication") as references.
• Do not cite abstracts unless they are the only available reference to an important concept.

In the references section
• References should be limited to those cited in the text and listed in numerical order, NOT alphabetical order.
• References should include (in order): author names, article title, journal name, year, volume and inclusive page numbers. The last names and initials of all the authors up to 6 should be included, but when authors number 7 or more, list the first 6 authors only followed by "et al".
• Abbreviations for journal names should conform to those used in MEDLINE.
• If citing a website, provide the author information, article title, website address and the date you accessed the information.
• Reference to an article that is in press must state the journal name and, if possible, the year and volume.

Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of their references and for correct text citation.

Examples are given below.

Reference to a journal publication
Bisdas T, Pichlmaier M, Wilhelmi M, Bisdas S, Haverich A, Teebken O. Effects of the ABO-mismatch between donor and recipient of cryopreserved arterial homografts. Int Angiol 2011;30:247-55. [In Japanese, English abstract]

Reference to a book with edition
Strunk Jr W, White EB. The elements of style. 3rd ed. New York: Macmillan; 1979.

Reference to a chapter in an edited book
Mettam GR, Adams LB. How to prepare an electronic version of your article. In: Jones BS, Smith RZ, editors. Introduction to the electronic age. New York: E-Publish ing Inc; 1999, p. 281-304.

Electronic publications
Duchin JS. Can preparedness for biological terrorism save us from pertussis? Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med 2004;158(2). Available from: External link http://archpedi.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/158/2/106. Accessed June 12, 2004.

Smeeth L, Iliffe S. Community screening for visual impairment in the elderly. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2002(2):CD001054. Doi:10.1002/14651858.CD1001054.

Thesis
Ayers AJ. Retention of resin restorations by means of enamel etching and by pins [MSD thesis]. Indianapolis: Indiana University; 1971.

Website
American Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgeons. Wisdom teeth. AAOMS Website. External link http://www.aaoms.org/wisdom_teeth.php. Published 2008. Accessed September 25, 2010.

Tables
Tables should supplement, not duplicate, the text. They should have a concise table heading, be self-explanatory, and numbered consecutively in the order of their citation in the text. Information requiring explanatory footnotes should be denoted using superscript lowercase letters (a, b, c, etc.). Abbreviations used in the table must be defined and placed after the footnotes. If you include a block of data or table from another source, whether published or unpublished, you must acknowledge the original source.

Figures
The number of figures should be restricted to the minimum necessary to support the textual material. Figures should be labeled in Arabic numerals in the order of their citation in the text. Figure legends should indicate the anatomic area and/or pathologic condition shown. All symbols and abbreviations not defined in the text should be defined in the legend. All lettering should be done professionally and should be in proportion to the drawing, graph or photograph. Photomicrographs must include an internal scale marker, the type of specimen, original magnification and stain.

Figures must be submitted as separate picture files (ex. TIF, JPG, etc.) at the correct resolution of a minimum of 600 dpi. The files should be named according to the figure number and format, e.g. "Fig1.tif", "Fig2.jpg".

The cost of color illustrations will be charged to the author.

Article Styles

Perspectives
These are comments on recent news or groundbreaking work and should provide a short review of the current state of research and explain the importance of the new findings. Perspectives that are focused on papers published in the JFMA should add a different viewpoint to the research and should not merely be a repetitive summary of the original paper. Although many of the Perspectives published in the Journal are solicited, we welcome proposals from potential authors. As these are meant to express a personal commentary, with rare exceptions, Perspectives should have no more than three authors. The text should not exceed 1000 words, with no more than one figure.

Review Articles
Review articles are critical assessments of topical issues in research or clinical practice. Systematic methods for inclusion of all data sources and critical review of those sources should be described in the paper. The maximum length is 3500 words, and the number of references should not exceed 100.

Articles by Invitation
The format for invited articles will be jointly decided by the editorial board and the contributing author.

Original Articles
The Introduction should address the subject of the paper. The Materials and Methods section should identify the population, patient samples or animal specimens used, explain the laboratory or study methods followed, and state the statistical procedures employed in the research. The Results section should include pertinent findings and necessary tables and figures. The Discussion should contain conclusions based on the findings of the study, a review of the relevant literature, a discussion of the application of the conclusions and implications for future research or clinical applications. The maximum length is 3500 words, and the number of references should not exceed 50.

Case Reports
Case reports should have no more than six authors. The Case Report section should include statements of the problem, patient history, diagnosis, treatment, results, and any other information pertinent to the case(s). All other sections should follow the format for original articles. The text should not exceed 2000 words and the number of references should not exceed 25. Note that the rejection rate for case reports is higher due to the current situation of a large number of case reports being submitted. Short case reports are encouraged to be submitted under the category of "Correspondence". The editorial board may request short case reports to be formatted as correspondence under most circumstances.

Brief Communications
Brief communications should have no more than six authors and should be concise presentations of clinical or technical notes, or preliminary experimental results. The abstract should be no longer than 150 words. The main body of the text should not exceed 1500 words, with no more than two tables or figures, and no more than three illustrations. The number of references should not exceed 20. The editors reserve the right to decide what constitutes a Brief Communication.

Correspondence
These include short case reports, technical or clinical notes and short comments on previously published articles. The number of authors should not exceed 4. The text should not exceed 500 words and may include one table or figure and up to 5 references. The editors reserve the right to decide what constitutes a correspondence.

Letters to the Editor
Letters to the editor are welcome in response to articles previously published in the JFMA. They should be no more than 250 words long and may include one table or figure and up to four references. The editors reserve the right to edit any letter received.

Editorial and Peer Review

All authors must sign a statement of authorship responsibility and copyright transfer prior to submission of their paper. This form will be provided by the Formosan Medical Association, and is also available after these Instructions to Authors.

All persons listed as authors should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content, and should have made substantial contributions to all of the following aspects of the work: (a) conception and design; (b) analysis and interpretation of the data; (c) drafting the article or revising it critically for intellectual content; and (d) final approval of the version to be published. These points should be stated in the authorship statement. Authors are responsible for obtaining consent from human subjects and the local ethics boards, and such consent should be noted in the Materials and Methods section of the manuscript.

Submitted manuscripts are reviewed initially by the Editorial Board, who determine which articles will be considered for publication based on their scientific merit, readability and interest. Manuscripts with insufficient priority for publication are rejected promptly. Note that the rejection rate for case reports is higher due to the current situation of a large number of case reports being submitted. All other manuscripts are sent to two or more expert consultants for peer review. For manuscripts that are judged by the editors to be written in poor English but otherwise worthy to be considered for publication, authors are required to pay for the English polishing of their manuscript. Otherwise, their manuscript will be rejected. Authors may, at the time of manuscript submission, also submit a list of reviewers who they wish to review or not to review their manuscript. They may also submit a list of editors who they wish to manage or not to manage their manuscript. The board reserves the right to make revisions to the manuscript.

Preparation for Publication

It is a basic requirement that the manuscript be prepared in good English. The Editorial Office reserves the right to edit poor English as suggested by the reviewer(s) and/or Editorial Board before the final version is decided. The editing fee will be charged to the authors.

Accepted manuscripts are presented to the Publisher to be copyedited according to the house style. Galley proofs (as PDF files) are returned to the corresponding author for final approval. Authors are responsible for all statements made in their work, including changes made by the copy editor and authorized by the corresponding author.

Proofreading is solely your responsibility. Note that Elsevier may proceed with the publication of your article if no response is received.

Publication Charges and Reprints
• The journal will bear the cost of publication for articles of 5 printed pages or less for Original Articles, and 3 printed pages or less for Case Reports and Brief Communications. Authors will be charged for the cost of the extra pages at NT$4850/ page.
• Authors will be charged NT$2500 per illustration, figure or table that is in color.
• Authors will receive 25 offprints of their articles free of charge. Additional professional reprints (which includes a cover page for the article) may be ordered at terms based on the cost of production. A reprint order form can be downloaded from the journal website at www.jfma-online.com

Copyright

Published manuscripts become the permanent property of the Publisher, Elsevier, and the Formosan Medical Association, and may not be published elsewhere, in any media and in any language, without written permission.