Down Syndrome Research and Practice
Structure and Style
Further policies and guidelines
The following describes the structure and style expected of submissions to Down
Syndrome Research and Practice.
Further guidance about the structure, style and presentation of papers for publication
can be found in -
Readability
Down Syndrome Research and Practice is an international journal covering
many disciplines and many subjects, and is read by people from many cultural, scientific
and socioeconomic backgrounds. Contributions should therefore be written clearly
and simply so that they are accessible to the broadest range of readers, including
those for whom English is not their first language.
Format
Contributions should be double-spaced and written in English (spellings as in the
Oxford English Dictionary).
Contributions should be organised in the sequence: title, text, methods, references,
Supplementary Information (if any), acknowledgements, author contributions, author
information (containing data deposition statement, interest declaration and corresponding
author line), tables and figure legends.
Hard copies of manuscripts are not required. Text files can be submitted in the
following formats: Word, WordPerfect, Rich Text Format (RTF) and Portable Document
Format (PDF). Graphics files can be submitted in the following formats: Portable
Document Format (PDF), Encapsulated PostScript (EPS), Excel, Portable Network Graphics
(PNG), Adobe Illustrator, Joint Photographic Experts Group Interchange Format (JPEG),
Photoshop, PowerPoint, or Tagged Image File Format (TIFF).
References
Only published or accepted papers and books should be included in the reference
list. Meetings abstracts, conference talks, or papers that have been submitted but
not yet accepted should not be cited. Limited citation of unpublished work should
be included in the body of the text only. All personal communications should be
supported by a letter from the relevant authors.
From 2007 (volume 12), Down Syndrome Research and Practice uses the numbered
citation (citation-sequence) method. References are listed and numbered in the order
that they appear in the text. In the text, citations should be indicated by the
reference number in ([square]) brackets. Multiple citations within a single set
of brackets should be separated by commas. Where there are more than three sequential
citations, they should be given as a range.
To assist electronic linking, references must follow the following format. The format
is based on the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors Uniform Requirements
for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Sample References, which are maintained
by the US National Library
of Medicine Bibliographic Services Division. This standard is sometimes
known as the Vancouver system
and broadly conforms to
ISO-690. The differences from this format are:
- All authors should be listed in the reference list (as per
NLM's standard).
- Journal titles should not be abbreviated. Full journal titles are more accessible
to a wide readership.
- Journal and book titles should be italicised (but not journal article or book chapter
titles).
Wherever possible, please provide DOIs with references. Some examples follow:
Journal article
- Anupama R, Hills RK, Stiller C, Gibson BE, Graaf SSN, Hann IM, O'Marcaigh
A, Wheatley K, Webb DKH. Treatment for myeloid leukaemia of Down syndrome:
population-based experience in the UK and results from the Medical Research Council
AML 10 and AML 12 trials. British Journal of Haematology. 2006:132(5);576-583.
doi:10.1111/j.1365-2141.2005.05906.x.
Book
- Bird GA, Buckley SJ. Number skills for individuals with Down syndrome -
An overview. Portsmouth, UK: Down Syndrome Education International; 2001.
Book chapter
- Buckley SJ, Bird GA, Byrne A. The practical and theoretical significance of
teaching literacy skills to children with Down's syndrome. In: Rondal, JA and Perera,
J, editors. Down's Syndrome: Psychological, Psychobiological and Socio-Educational
Perspectives. London: Whurr; 1996. p. 119-128.
Acknowledgments
People who contributed to the work, but do not fit the criteria for authors should
be listed in the Acknowledgments, along with their contributions. You must also
ensure that anyone named in the acknowledgments agrees to being so named.
Funding
The sources of funding that have supported the work should be described in a section
titled 'Funding'. Please also describe the role of the study sponsor(s),
if any, in study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing
of the paper; and decision to submit it for publication.
Author contributions
A detailed list of the contributions of each of the authors should be included.
Competing interests
Competing interests associated with any of the authors must be detailed. If authors
declare that no competing interests exist, then this should be stated in the contribution.
Abbreviations
Please keep abbreviations to a minimum. A list of definitions for all non-standard
abbreviations should be provided. Non-standard abbreviations should not be used
unless they appear at least three times in the text.
Nomenclature
The correct and established nomenclature should be used wherever possible. In particular:
- We strongly encourage the use of SI units.
If you do not use these exclusively, please provide the SI value in parentheses
after each value.
- Species names should be italicized (e.g., Homo sapiens).
- Genes, mutations, genotypes, and alleles should be indicated in italics. Use the
recommended name by consulting the appropriate genetic nomenclature database, e.g.,
HUGO for human genes. It is
sometimes advisable to indicate the synonyms for the gene the first time it appears
in the text.
- The Recommended International
Non-Proprietary Name (rINN) of drugs should be provided.
Accession numbers
All appropriate datasets, images, and information should be deposited in appropriate
public resources. Please provide the relevant accession numbers (and version numbers,
if appropriate). In addition, as much as possible, please provide accession numbers
or identifiers for all entities such as genes, proteins, mutants, diseases, etc.,
for which there is an entry in a public database. Providing accession numbers allows
linking to and from established databases and integrates your article with a broader
collection of scientific information. Please list all accession numbers directly
after the Supporting Information section.
Supplementary information
This is online-only, peer-reviewed material that is essential background to the
contribution (for example, large data sets, methods, calculations), but which is
too large or impractical, or of interest only to a few specialists, to justify inclusion
in the printed version of the paper.