Guidelines for authors submitting manuscripts Nutrition & Dietetics aims to keep health professionals abreast of current knowledge on human nutrition and diet and accepts contributions from around the world. ‘Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals’ generally apply (Ann Intern Med. 1997;126:36-47) <www.icmje.org/index.html>. All authors should consult these requirements. Types of papers: Research papers presented for publication should represent the results of original work not previously published. Original interpretation or a review of existing knowledge, not previously published, is also acceptable. Short papers or letters to the Editor, consisting of a professional viewpoint, research note, practice guideline, case report or commentary on a limited topic may be submitted. Short papers should be no more than eight double-spaced A4 pages, and letters no more than two. All research, review and short papers will be subject to peer review and to the normally accepted editorial processes that are applied by recognised biomedical scientific journals before publication. Nutrition & Dietetics welcomes authors to provide the names and addresses, including email and fax, of up to three unbiased and qualified referees from outside their institution. However, the assignment of referees will be at the discretion of the Editors. Brief descriptions of innovative nutrition education or clinical activities (e.g. teaching techniques or strategies, games, demonstrations, case studies, therapeutic strategies or programs) may be submitted to the Journal. These contributions should include a brief description of the objectives of the activity, intended audience, implementation procedures and evaluation. Visual material (photographs, graphics) may enhance the presentation. These contributions should be no more than four double-spaced A4 pages, including any visuals and references. Case studies that
provide practical examples of excellence of practice and insights into
nutritional or dietetic problems can be submitted to the Insight section.
The maximum length is eight double-spaced typed A4 pages consisting of
a short abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion and conclusion,
and approximately ten references. An Manuscript structure: Begin each of the following sections of the manuscript on separate pages: title page, list of authors, abstract and key words, text, acknowledgments, references, individual tables, and legends for illustrations. Number pages consecutively, beginning with the title page, in the upper right-hand corner of each page. The text should include continuous line numbers down the lefthand margin beginning with the first paragraph. On a separate page which can be detached when the manuscript is sent for anonymous peer review, all authors’ names and place of employment must be listed and each author’s contribution must be stated; all financial support for the research and employment details at the time of conducting this research must also be stated. In general, text style should be consistent with the style guidelines of the Style Manual for Authors, Editors and Printers, 6th edition, John Wiley, Australia, 2002. Spellings are the preferred spellings of the Macquarie Dictionary. Use figures rather than words to express numbers greater than ten, except to begin sentences. Spaces instead of commas should be used in numerals of more than four figures. Single quotation marks should be used and quotations exceeding about thirty words set separately from the text. Measurements should be given in metric units and their abbreviations in accordance with the International System of Units. Manuscript content: Original research papers should comprise an introduction listing aims/hypotheses, methods (including details of data collection and analysis), results and discussion, where all sections then follow an internally consistent argument. Details of statistical analyses should be provided. Authors’ contributions: A description of each author’s contribution should be provided. For example, include contributions to conception and design, and/or acquisition of data, and/or analysis, and/or interpretation of data. Ethical approval: When reporting research results the ethics committee responsible for approving the procedures must be stated in the text. Do not use patients’ names, initials or hospital numbers. Titles of tables and figures should be brief and their meaning should stand alone. Tables and figures should reflect the accuracy of the analysis when reporting dietary intake or food composition data. Proximate nutrients should be reported with three significant figures; inorganic constituents and amino acids should be reported with two (if measured in micrograms) or three (if measured in milligrams); and vitamins are generally reported with two significant figures. All should have limits appropriate to the unit of measurement. Energy values should be cited to up to three significant figures with a limit of one kilojoule. For more details please refer to Food Composition Data. Production, Management and Use (Greenfield H, Southgate DAT, Rome: FAO, 2003). Names of vitamins and related compounds should be those recommended by the International Union of Nutritional Sciences Committee on Nomenclature (reprinted in J Nutr 1990;120:12–9). However, generic names may be used where appropriate, e.g. vitamin A deficiency. Authors using RDIs, RDAs, RNIs or similar dietary allowances to estimate nutrient adequacy should specify and cite the authority for the cutoff point used. After statistical testing, the value of the test statistic should be reported. Give the actual P value, to two significant digits, whether or not the value is statistically significant. P values less than 0.001 should be reported as P < 0.001. Survey data should be presented in a consistent style to no more than two decimal places and statistical analyses indicated at the foot of tables. Report (95%) confidence intervals for all point estimates that are of primary interest whether the results are statistically significant or statistically nonsignificant. Use the +/- symbol only when presenting the mean and standard deviation of a distribution and only for approximately normally distributed data. Identify the meaning of the interval (i.e. the standard deviation) at first use. Describe markedly nonnormally distributed (skewed) data with the median range or interquartile range (or other interpercentile range) or by using a Box Whisker Plot if presenting the data in a figure. Research papers using qualitative methodology should stipulate the theoretical framework and assumptions behind data analysis. They should give details of the analytical and reporting strategy and sampling procedures. Veracity, generalisability and bias in the data and in the analysis should be discussed. Computer software and nutrient databases should be cited arenthetically in the text and should include the name, version, date, and name and location of the software or database developer. With respect to statistical methods, a description of the tests and procedures conducted is required and should be written in such a manner that a knowledgeable reader with access to the original data could repeat the procedure and verify the results. Conflict of interest must be disclosed in the covering letter to the Editor. The Journal Editors may use information disclosed in conflict of interest statements as a basis for editorial decisions. The Editors may publish this information if it is considered important to readers in judging the manuscript. The manuscript should
be accompanied by a covering letter signed by all authors with permissions
to reproduce previously published materials such as tables and figures.
Once a manuscript has been accepted for publication, authors will be requested
to assign copyright to the Dietitians Association of Australia. An electronic
copy of the manuscript Abstracts: Original research manuscripts, including most types of Insight articles, must include a structured abstract (see below). Review papers and clinical case studies should include a conventional (unstructured) abstract that states the purpose of the article and emphasises the major concepts and conclusions. All abstracts, whether structured or conventional, should contain no more than 250 words. Structured
abstracts organise information under descriptive headings to
allow the reader to focus on the objective, study design, main outcomes
and conclusions. Use the following as appropriate: After the abstract include at least three and no more than six key words that will assist indexers. It is preferable to use terms from the Medical Subject Headings list of Index Medicus. Abbreviations:
Use only standard abbreviations, and do not use an abbreviation in the
text if the term is used less than five times unless the term is particularly
unwieldy or is better known by its abbreviation. Do not use abbreviations
in the title. Introduce an abbreviation the first time the term is used
by adding the abbreviation in parentheses immediately after The following abbreviations
can be used throughout a paper without definition: standard units of measurement,
ACT, ADP, AIDS, ATP, CI, CV, df, DNA, EDTA, EGTA, e.g., GDP, GTP, HDL,
HEPES, HIV, HPLC, i.e., LDL, NAD, NADH, NADP, NADPH, NS, NSW, NT, RNA,
SA, SE, SEE, SEM, SD, tris, VLDL, vol:vol, wt:vol, UK, USA, WA. |