Instructions for Authors

The acceptance of articles is contingent on consistency with the following editorial policy, and on the decision of the Scientific Committee, which affirms the value of the author’s work and the validity of any statistical analysis. The Committee reserves the right to refuse publication of the work, or request that the author edit or clarify the article. The manuscript copy is not returned even if not accepted. The authors must assume exclusive responsibility for what is expressed in their article.

Acta Medica Mediterranea has quick decision and publication times. The average time for a final decision is in four or five months. ISSN: 0393-6384 (printed) / 2283-9720 (online)

Types of manuscripts accepted

• Review articles should be papers on special topics of general interest. Reviews should not exceed 50,000 characters, do not include more than 5 illustrations and tables, and the number of references should be limited to 80.
• Original articles should present original observations, or observations deriving from relevant experience in a specific field. The text should be divided into the following sections: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion. Original articles should not normally exceed 35,000 characters; do not include more than 5 illustrations and tables; the number of references should be limited to 40.
• Case reports will be considered only if they include atypical presentations, diseases not frequently found in specific geographical areas (e.g. West Nile virus infection in subjects living in northern Europe), or on the specific invitation of the Editorial Board. The title should not include the final diagnosis but only describe some aspects of clinical presentation. The text should be divided into the following sections: Introduction, Case Presentation, Discussion. Articles should not exceed 20,000 characters; do not include more than 3 illustrations and tables; the number of references should be limited to 20.
• Letters to the Editor are short original articles, case reports of special interest, or letters referring to an article published in Acta Medica Mediterranea, or to novel hypotheses so as to stimulate comments on issues of common interest. No abstract and keywords are required, and the text should not be divided into separate sections. A letter should not exceed 7,500 characters, do not include more than 5 illustrations and tables, and 5 references.

Manuscript Submission
Submission of a manuscript implies that the work described is original; that it has not been published before; that it is not under consideration for publication anywhere else; that its publication has been approved by all co-authors, if any, as well as by the ethics committee and/or other responsible authorities – tacitly or explicitly – at the institution where the work was carried out. The publisher will not be held legally responsible if there are any claims for compensation. Authors should submit their manuscripts by e-mail to: info@actamedicamediterranea.com

Title Page

• The title page should include:
• The name(s) of the author(s)
• The affiliation(s) of the author(s)
• The street address, e-mail address, and telephone and fax numbers of the corresponding author

Abstract
An abstract (where appropriate) should not exceed 300 words. It should be divided into the following sections: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Conclusion. The abstract should not contain any undefined abbreviations or references.

Keywords
Please provide 4 to 6 keywords which can be used for indexing purposes.

Text Formatting
Manuscripts should be submitted in .doc or .docx format.

Abbreviations
Abbreviations should be defined at first mention of the word or phrase and used consistently thereafter.

Acknowledgments
Acknowledgments of people, grants, funds, etc. should be placed in a separate section before the reference list. The names of funding organizations should be written in full.

Permissions
Authors wishing to include figures, tables, or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format, and to include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers. Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors.

Citation of References
Reference citations in the text should be identified by numbers in round brackets. Some examples:

1. As previously reported by Butler et al. (17).
2. No statistical significance has been previously reported in the literature (5, 8, 26).
3. Severe sepsis is defined as sepsis plus sepsis-induced organ dysfunction or tissue hypoperfusion (3-8, 11).

Reference list
The list of references should only include works that are cited in the text and that have been published or accepted for publication. Personal communications and unpublished works should only be mentioned in the text. Do not use footnotes or endnotes as a substitute for a reference list. The entries in the list should be numbered consecutively. Always use the standard abbreviation of a journal’s name according to the ISSN List of Title Word Abbreviations, see www.issn.org/2-22661-LTWA-online.php.

• Journal article:
  Brossier J, Coscas R, Capdevila C, Kitzis M, Coggia M, Goeau-Brissonniere O. Anatomic feasibility of endovascular treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms in emergency in the era of the chimney technique: impact on an emergency endovascular kit. Ann Vasc Surg 2013; 27: 844-50. Ideally, the names of all authors should be provided, but the usage of “et al.” in lists of more than 5 authors will also be accepted: Yang SW, Zhou YJ, Tian XF, Pan GZ, Liu YY, et al. Beijing Heart and Metabolism Survey Study Group. Association of dysglycemia and all-cause mortality across the spectrum of coronary artery disease. Mayo Clin Proc 2013; 88: 930-41.

• Article in press:
  Caimi G, Hopps E, Montana M, Carollo C, Calandrino V, Incalcaterra E, Canino B, Lo Presti R. Nitric oxide metabolites (nitrite and nitrate) in several clinical conditions. Clin Hemorheol Microcirc 2013 [Epub ahead of print].

• Book:
  Smith DW. Recognizable patterns of human malformation. Third Edition. Philadelphia: WB Saunders Co. 1982.

• Book chapter:
  Krmpotic-Nemanic J, Kostovis I, Rudan P. Aging changes of the form and infrastructure of the externalnose and its importance in rhinoplasty. In: Conly J, Dickinson JT, eds. Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery of the Face and Neck. New York, NY: Grune and Stratton 1972: 84.

• Online document:
  Nordic MPD Group. Guidelines for the diagnosis and treatment of patients with polycythemia vera, essential thrombocythemia and primary myelofibrosis; 2009. Available from: www.nordicmpd.org/files/NMPD_guidelines_2009revision_pub.pdf

Tables:

• All tables are to be numbered using Arabic numerals.
• Tables should always be cited in text in consecutive numerical order.
• For each table, please supply a table caption (title) explaining the components of the table.
• Identify any previously published material by giving the original source in the form of a reference at the end of the table caption.

Electronic Figure Submission:

• Supply all figures electronically.
• All graphics should be submitted in .jpg format
• Name your figure files as “Fig.” and the figure number, e.g., Fig.1.
• All figures are to be numbered using Arabic numerals.
• Figures should always be cited in the text in consecutive numerical order.
• Figure parts should be denoted by lowercase letters (a, b, c, etc.).
• Each figure should have a concise caption accurately describing what the figure depicts. Do not include titles or captions within your illustrations. Include the captions in the text file of the manuscript, not in the figure file, after the tables, as “figure legends.”
• If you include figures that have already been published elsewhere, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format.

English Language:
Manuscripts that are accepted for publication will be checked by our copyeditors for spelling and formal style. This may not be sufficient if English is not your native language and substantial editing may be required. The Journal can provide native English translators at the author’s expense.

Ethical statement:
Manuscripts submitted for publication must contain a statement to the effect that all human and animal studies have been approved by the appropriate ethics committee and have therefore been performed in accordance with the ethical standards laid down in the 1964 Declaration of Helsinki and its later amendments. It should also be stated clearly in the text that all persons gave their informed consent prior to their inclusion in the study. Details that might disclose the identity of the subjects under study should be omitted. The editors reserve the right to reject manuscripts that do not comply with the above-mentioned requirements. The author will be held responsible for false statements or failure to fulfil the above-mentioned requirements.

Publishing ethics, plagiarism, conflict of interest and copyright transfer:
Before publication the corresponding author, on behalf of all co-authors, must legally declare: 1) that the manuscript is not currently in press or under consideration or by any other publisher, 2) that the work will not be submitted to any other publisher before our decision has been made, and 3) that the work is original and free from fraud or plagiarism. In addition, the corresponding author, on behalf of all co-authors, must indicate whether or not they have a financial relationship with any organization sponsoring the research. They should also state that they have full control over all primary data and that they agree to allow the journal to review their data if requested. Finally, the corresponding author, on behalf of all co-authors. Articles published in Acta Medica Mediterranea will be Open-Access articles distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The copyright is retained by the author(s). Licensee to Carbone Editore s.r.I Palermo, Italy. Therefore, the corresponding author, on behalf of all co-authors, must compile and sign the “Copyright Assignment Form”, and send it via e-mail to: info@actamedicamediterranea.com. Accepted manuscripts will become permanent property of Acta Medica Mediterranea, and will not be reproduced by any means, in whole or in part, without the written permission of both the author and the publisher.

Proof reading:
The purpose of the proof is to check for typesetting or conversion errors, and the completeness and accuracy of the text, tables and figures. Substantial changes in content, e.g., new results, corrected values, title and authorship, are not allowed without the approval of the Editor. Proofs will be sent to the corresponding author for final approval and must be returned within 72 hours of receipt. After receiving corrected proofs, the authors should pay the cost of publication (Payment for Publication in the Journal section)

Offprints:
No offprints are provided because the Journal is online and open-access.

Payment for Publication in the Journal:
The cost of publication depends on the number of pages of the article’s proof: a two-page article costs €700,00, a four-page article costs €1.000,00, a six-page article costs €1.300,00, an eight-page article costs €1.600,00, and a ten-page article costs €2.000,00. The price does not include any bank fees, which will be added to your amount due. Before consideration of the work by the Journal, the author must submit a letter agreeing to pay the cost of publication. You can pay to:
Carbone Editore s.r.l. through the bank: Banca Fideuram IBAN: IT20G0329601601000067493538 and SWIFT CODE: FIBKITMM.

Subscriptions:
The Journal is published online and is open-access, so there are no subscriptions.