Instructions for Authors

Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Diseases International(HBPD INT)

Copyright 2010, Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Diseases International. All rights reserved.www.hbpdint.com

General information

Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Diseases International (HBPD INT) is a journal published bimonthly in English language by the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China. We welcome original research articles, review articles, editorials, and others from any part of the world. Manuscripts are reviewed by members of the international editorial board and our expert peer reviewers, then either accepted for publication or rejected by the chief editor. Please send all submissions via Email (hbpdje@gmail.com or hbpdje@hbpdint.com) or our submission system to the chief editor, Hepatobiliary &Pancreatic Diseases International, First Affiliated Hospital,Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310003, China.

Most of submissions accepted for publication may undergo revisions recommended by the reviewers, editors or statistical advisers. A decision takes from two weeks to three months, the longer period being due to the multiple reviews needed for articles likely to be accepted. Publication varies from two to six months after final acceptance.Proofs of edited articles and illustrations are sent to the corresponding author for correction and reply to any queries from editors. Reprints will be sent on request to the corresponding author within a few days of publication.

Submissions

Original research articles including randomized trials,intervention studies, studies of screening and diagnostic tests, cohort studies, cost-effectiveness analyses and case control studies should be prepared in accordance with the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (www.icmje.org). Those of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) should follow the CONSORT-statement (www.consort-statement.org). The reporting of other articles should follow the guidelines set by the different initiatives or groups listed in the appendix. We require a emailed copy of the whole article, including an abstract, illustrations, captions, tables and a list of references. The article should have two cover pages, one with complete details of the title, the source, the authors and an address, telephone and fax number or email address for the corresponding author. The second cover page, which should show only the title and subtitle of the article, will be sent to reviewers. The text and figures should exclude all references to the source of the work and the authors—this will be restored during editing and before publication.

The authors' names (normally no more than six) and their initials should be in the same form as in their other publications with one major qualification such as MD or PhD, their current appointment and a full postal address.One author should be named for editorial correspondence.

Each submission must be accompanied by a letter of transmittal signed by all the authors (see the detailed description in the last section) and other relevant documents including informed consent obtained from research subjects and research approval from the supervising or institutional ethics bodies. Author(s)of each submission should clarify the functions in or contributions to their research and declare, if any,competing interest. A choice of one of the following statements will be requested when a decision has been made to accept the paper:

1. The author or one or more of the authors have received or will receive benefits for personal or professional use from a commercial party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article.

3. The author or authors do not choose to respond to the above statements.

The statements selected by the author or authors will be published with the article. The signature of each author will be required. No article will be published until the completed form has been received at the Hepatobiliary &Pancreatic Diseases International office.

Manuscripts should be printed with generous margins,and double spacing is essential throughout the text, the references and the captions. Pages should be consecutively numbered with tables, captions and list of references each on separate pages. The style should be simple and direct,free from ambiguity and jargon, and with minimal use of abbreviations.

The title of the paper should be chosen with care: a short one has more impact and may be expanded by a subtitle.

Structured abstract of original articles should include four sections as Background, Methods, Results and Conclusions and have no more than 300 words summarizing the most important points in the article,incorporating key words suitable for electronic retrieval systems. Background: This section should provide a precise statement of the primary focus of the study and the context in which it was carried out. Methods: This section describes how the study was performed, including details of clinical and/or technical procedures. Results:This section describes the salient results of the study.Conclusions: This section covers conclusions and their clinical application, while equal emphasis should be given to positive and negative findings of equal scientific merit.

The main text should be divided under headings. For many research papers the best sequence is Introduction,Methods (Materials or Patients), Results, and Discussion.The text should comment on, but should not repeat, the details given in tables or captions. Any acknowledgements should be made at the end of the main text.

Introduction: This should explain the problem which is to be addressed, with a definition of the hypothesis to be examined if appropriate, out-lining, briefly, its relevance to the appropriate literature.

Methods (Materials or Patients): The subjects of the study and the methods employed in the investigation must be clearly described. The reasons for examining the particular group of patients should be made clear, and reasons for exclusion of individuals from the study must be stated. Any group used as controls must be defined accurately.

Results: These must be clearly expressed in simple language. Tables or similar diagrams can be used but must not duplicate material already expressed in the text.

Discussion: This section must be succinct, pointing out the relevance of the work described in the paper and its contribution to current knowledge. The results must be interpreted clearly, and both strength and weakness expressed. Discussion of pertinent references must be concise and short.

Each of the tables should have a short descriptive heading.

The references in the text should include only those that are important and have been studied fully by the authors. The authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of their references and for correct text citation. When listing references the names of journals should be abbreviated according to Index Medicus (List all authors and/or editors up to 6; if more than 6, list the first 6 and et al). All references will be checked deliberately by the authors; PMID roots in the abstract serial number indexed by PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?db=PubMed) are requested as well as photocopies of the first and last pages of referenced articles which editors may be difficult to verify. The references cited should be represented in the text by superscript numbers in the order of their appearance. The list of references at the end of the text should be in this numerical order with details and punctuation as follows:

Article from journal—more than one author

Yan S, Zhang QY, Yu YS, He JJ, Wang WL, Zhang M,et al. Microsurgical reconstruction of hepatic artery in living donor liver transplantation: experiences and lessons.Hepatobiliary Pancreat Dis Int 2009;8:575-580. PMID:20007072

Article from journals with English abstracts only

Ma Y, Hu AB, Xiong J. Migration of donor dendritic cell inducing graft acceptance in combined transpalntation of liver and kidney [abstract in English]. Zhonghua Shi Yan Wai Ke Za Zhi 2006;23:750-752.

Monographic series

Davidoff RA. Migraine: manifestations, pathogenesis,and management. Philadelphia, Pa: FA Davis; 1995.Contemporary Neurology Series, No. 42.

Online journals with volume and page information

Simon JA, Hudes ES. Relationship of ascorbic acid to blood lead levels. JAMA 1999;281:2289-2293. PMID:10386552. Accessed June 11, 2009. http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/full/281/24/2289

Online journals without volume and page information

Verschuur EM, Steyerberg EW, Tilanus HW, Polinder S, Essink-Bot ML, Tran KT, et al. Nurse-led follow-up of patients after oesophageal or gastric cardia cancer surgery: a randomised trial. Br J Cancer 2008;Dec 9. PMID: 19066612 doi: 10.1038/sj.bjc.6604811

Online website

Morse SS. Factors in the emergence of infectious diseases. Emerg Infect Dis [serial online] 1995 Jan-Mar [cited 1996 Jun 5]; 1(1): [24 screens]. Available from: www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol1no1/morse.htm

Book—more than one author (list all authors if six or less,otherwise list first three followed by et al)

Baselt RC, Cravey RH. Disposition of toxic drugs and chemicals in man, 4th ed. Foster City, CA: Chemical Toxicology Institute;1995.

Chapter from a book

Calne RY. Experimental background. In: Calne RY, ed.Liver transplantation, 2nd ed. London: Grune & stratton;1987:3-7.

Book—with editors

Maddrey WC, ed. Transplantation of the liver. New York: Elsevier Science Publishing;1998.

Illustrations may be halftone photographs or black on white line drawings. Diagrams, charts and graphs should be produced by a professional artist. The"three-dimensional" bar charts produced by computer programs are not acceptable. Photographs should be sent as glossy prints (18 cm by 12 cm is a convenient size).Photomicrographs with no inset scale should have the magnification of the print in the caption; stains should be reported. The lettering on diagrams and graphs should be large enough to be clear after it has been reduced for printing and be consistent in size and style. Color will be accepted only where it is essential. Permission to reproduce any borrowed illustration must be obtained from the author and the publisher, and evidence of this permission must accompany the submitted article.

Review articles are welcome especially systematic,critical assessments of literature and data sources pertaining to clinical topics, emphasizing factors such as cause, diagnosis, prognosis, therapy, or prevention.All articles and data sources reviewed should include information about the specific type of study or analysis,population, intervention, exposure, and tests or outcomes. All articles or data sources should be selected systematically for inclusion in the review and critically evaluated, and the selection process should be described in the article. Meta-analyses also will be considered as review articles. Editors ask potential authors of review articles to check the MOOSE initiative for meta-analysis of observational studies in epidemiology (See appendix).

Research letters are brief reports of novel research findings that might stimulate further research or alert readers to clinically relevant, but preliminary, information.A research letter should have no more than 900 words,a maximum of five references, and two tables or figures.An unstructured summary of no more than 100 words is required to include background, methods, findings, and interpretation.

Case reports describe, in 600 words, a single interesting case, which should not be a rarity but one that a surgeon or physician might encounter, in which there was some difficulty in reaching a diagnosis, and that provides a teaching point. Preferably the case should have a good illustration. Consent for publication must be obtained from the patient or, if this is not possible, the next of kin before submission.

Clinical images, clear and interesting, are submitted with a descriptive paragraph of 150 words. Prints, slides,or electronic copy are all acceptable. Authors must obtain signed informed consent from the patient.

Letters to the editor on matters of recently published articles in the journal are especially welcome. Lettersshould be received with 4 weeks of the article's publication and should not exceed 400 words of text and 5 references.

Appendix.Reporting guidelines for study designs

Notes, news or announcements for conferences,symposia or meetings may be sent for publication at least 3 months before the required date of publication. These are mostly included under Meetings and Courses free of cost.Provide title, date(s) and place of the event and contact address, telephone, and email address. Hepatobiliary &Pancreatic Diseases International reserves the right to be selective in publishing these announcements. Those wishing for a detailed publication may submit as advertisements.For academy related information, special subsidized rates are available. Clarifications on rates are available from the editorial office.

Letter of transmittal

We require a letter transmittal signed by all named authors, stating that they have taken a significant and active part in the preparation of the article, that they have read and approved the final version, and are willing to discuss it in detail. This is essential for the reviewing process to be completed. One copy of all parallel or related submitted or published papers should be provided.

To conform with the Copyright Act of China, this letter must contain the following paragraph:

In consideration of Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Diseases International reviewing and editing my (our) submission,the author(s) undersigned hereby transfer(s), assign(s), or otherwise conveys all copyright ownership to Hepatobiliary& Pancreatic Diseases International represent(s) that he(they) own(s) all rights in the material submitted. The author(s) further confirm(s) that the article is original,that it is not under consideration by another journal in any language, and that it has not been previously published, in whole or in part, in another journal in any language. For convenience potential author can download the form of the letter of transmittal below. This assignment is to take effect only if the work is published in Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Diseases International.

These instructions can also be found on the journal's website at www.hbpdint.com and may be copied by those intending to submit an article. Submissions should be addressed to:

The chief editor, Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Diseases International, First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310003, China.