Author Guidelines

1. General requirements

1.1. Adherence to Vancouver Style

This Journal adheres to the Vancouver style formally known as “Uniform Requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals: Writing and editing for biomedical publications elaborated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors”, the official text is available at: http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/

Failing to comply with these requirements, as well as these rules, will lead to a delay in the editorial process and may cause the rejection of the paper.

1.2. Originality of the articles

Articles previously published or submitted concurrently to another journal will not be accepted. Papers previously presented as a communication conference may be considered, provided that the communication has been partial, and the paper develops or extends the research topic.

Articles that have been published partially (i.e., the methodology used, part of the results, the previous bibliographic review and so forth.) may be admitted, providing that this is clearly stated in the publication text.

1.3. Ethics in research and experiments. .

Once studies on human are presented, it shall be advertised that they have been authorised by the corresponding Clinical Research Ethics Committee and in any case compliance with the 1975 Declaration of Helsinki, with its successive revisions, shall be guaranteed. Particularly, it should be reported that patient data have been obtained after signing an informed consent as needed. By the same token, authors must declare that the protocols established by their respective healthcare centers for accessing data from medical records have been followed to enable the performance of this type of publication for the research aim/dissemination for the scientific community.

Having performed animal experiments, it shall be disclosed whether the institutional guidelines of a national or international research council have been followed; or whether any national law on the care and use of laboratory animals has been considered.

1.4. Authorship

In accordance with the Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals (See authorship contribution policy), solely those persons that have made a considerable intellectual contribution are listed as authors.

1.5. Conflict of interest

Authors of whatever article are responsible for acknowledging and declaring the existence of the conflict of interest of any financial or other conflict of interest that might give rise to bias in the paper. In addition to the cover letter, the article must specify all the financial support that has contributed to the performance of the work, as well as other economic or personal relationships concerning to it.

The non-existence of a conflict of interest should also be reflected in the article.

1.6. Using inclusive lenguaje

This journal is constantly working to foster gender equality and thus suggests following the recommendations for inclusive language contained in our gender equality policy.

2. Guidelines for the elaboration and submission of the article

Manuscripts, in Spanish or English, should be performed according to the templates used by this journal (download templates) and submitted electronically athwart the journal´s website (Medicina y Seguridad del trabajo). The editorial process can also be monitored on this website.

The following links provide a straightforward explanation of how to register and submit an article:

Tutorial to register for the magazine>>

Tutorial on how to submit an article to the journal>>

2.1. Contribution types

Med Segur Trab publishes the following paper types

Editorial: earmarked mainly for the spreading of topics related to the journal or those considered relevant or ongoing. They will be written at the request of the editorial committee.

Original and original brief: Quantitative or Qualitative research papers must follow this structure: introduction, method, results, and discussion.  

Revision: Article compiling and analysing the scientific literature. It is advisable to use a systematic technique and the same scheme as for original articles.

Special: article that develops new aspects, trends, and opinions. This section is earmarked for articles related to new communication technologies and the telematics area that cannot follow the structure suggested for original works. Its structure is free.

Clinical notes: the aim of this section is to inform about the experiences of the professional practice in various health fields that contain cutting-edge components for professional activity. The text does not need to be formally structured, however, it must follow a narrative logic (introduction, development of the experience, conclusions).

Methodological notes: this section includes short articles on new methodological analytics, study design or data collection techniques fitting the research in health service delivery, at home or in hospital. The text does not need to be formally structured, albeit it must follow a narrative logic (introduction, exposition of the method, practical application, conclusions).

Letter to the director: scientific observation or opinion on current published papers in the journal, as well as other essential recent issues.

It is indispensable that the papers meet the following characteristics:

2.2. Style and formatting guide

All papers must consist of, at the very least, these three components: the Cover letter, the title page and body article. In addition, authors may include annexes with further information.

Cover letter

This is a text to be entered in the “Comments to the editor” section in step 1. This text shall include:

• Title and the type of the article
• The work has not been previously published, it has been partially published or has been previously communicated to a congress. In the last two cases, a complete reference must be attached to enable it to be located. A brief statement should also be added to the title page.
• The paper is not under review in any other journal.
• Que se han obtenido las adecuadas autorizaciones para la reproducción de material ya publicado (si es el caso) y que se entregarán al comité editorial de la revista toda vez que el trabajo haya sido aceptado para publicación.
• The appropriate permissions have been obtained for the reproduction of already published material (if applicable) and will be given to the journal’s editorial board once the work has been accepted for publication.
• Potential or no conflict of interest.
• Grants or financial support received for the research from which the article stems from.
• Displaying and justifying the necessity of a quick publication process, given the special topicality of the research and the obsolescence data.

Title page

It should be created using manuscripts templates and contain:

Title of the article. It must be as brief, clear, and informative as possible and must properly describe the paper’s content. It will have a maximum length of 15 words. Whether the study concentrates on a specific population group (only women or men, older people…) this population group should be mentioned in the title. The use of acronyms, codes and symbols that are not commonly used must be avoided (the title must be written in English and Spanish).

Name and affiliation of authors. Write down the name and surname(s) of each author and ensure that they are given in the correct spelling and according to the bibliographic signature of each author. Each author will be marked with Arabic numerals in superscript referring to his/her affiliation (name(s) of the institution(s), department(s) or centre(s) and country). ORCID must be included. The academic degree and professional category of the authors must not be indicated. The e-mail address of all authors must be added. A maximum number of six authors is recommended, and provided that the number is greater, the need for this number of contributions must be justified.

Corresponding author. Indicate clearly who will be responsible for receiving correspondence throughout the assessment process and the article’s publication, as well as after its publication. The email address must be provided.

Funding. Whatever financial and material support for the study must be acknowledged, mentioning the body, agency, institution or company, and the project’s number, agreement, or contract. In the case of no external funding, “No funding” should be stated.

Conflicts of interest. Possible conflicts of interest of each of the signatories must be declared. Conflicts of interest may be related to employment, research, financial or moral. The editorial board may require this conflicts statement to be broadened or detailed when it deems appropriate. By the same token, if there is no conflict of interest, this must be explicitly recorded with the word “None”.

Other declarations. It must state that all authors have approved the final manuscript that has not been submitted in whole or in part to other journals at the same time as Ars Pharmaceutica.

Body of the article

This document shall not contain any information that could facilitate the identification of the authors. This document shall be prepared using the manuscript templates and shall contain:

Title of the article.

It must be as brief, concise, and informative as possible and must appropriately describe the content of the paper. It will have a maximum length of 15 words. Whether the study focuses on a specific population group (only women or men, older people…) this population group must be cited in the title. The use of acronyms, codes and symbols that are not commonly employed must be avoided (the title must be written in English and Spanish).

Abstract. The abstract must indicate the context or background for the research and must mention its purpose, basic procedures (selection of subjects for a study, observational and analytical methods), main findings (providing specific effect sizes and their statistical significance, if possible) and main conclusions. The structure and number of words depends on the type of article. Lest original articles, the abstract must be structured with the following sections: Objective, Method, Results and Conclusions.

The abstract must be in Spanish and English and must be accurate and complete translations.

Key words. This section will appear after the abstract in Spanish and English), in the corresponding language. A minimum of 3 and a maximum of 6 keywords must be encompassed to complete the information contained in the title, as well as to help identify the work in bibliographic databases. Equivalent terms to those in the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of Index Medicus available at www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/meshhome.html), must be used. The equivalent terms in Spanish (Descriptores en Ciencias de la Salud, DeCS) is available at https://decs.bvsalud.org/E/homepagee.htm.

Main text. Original papers, short original papers and reviews must be divided into the following sections:

Introduction: This must be as concise as possible, by justifying the weight of this paper to be presented. It is advisable to focus the problem with current data. Only the essential bibliography must be cited. Do not include data or conclusions of the work being published. The last paragraph of the introduction must contain the objective(s) of the work.

Methods: The field in which the research was performed, period and duration, the characteristics of the studied population, the selection criteria employed, and the techniques used, describing precisely how the study was conducted, the type of design used, inclusion and exclusion criteria, treatment guidelines, statistical analysis, and so forth. It is advisable to provide sufficient detail to enable the experience to be repeated based on the information given.

Regarding reviews, it is indispensable to describe thoroughly the searched bibliography performed, the data sources (bibliographic databases), the search terms used, the criteria for inclusion and exclusion of the works, the method for evaluating the quality of the evince found and the techniques for assessing the outcome considered.

Results: describe the procured findings with the materials and methods consulted, detailing both positive and negative findings. The Data may be mentioned in the text or in the form of tables or figures. Solely relevant observations that fulfil the target of the study will be highlighted.

Discussion: it must elucidate the results, underlying newer and pertinent aspects of the work and the conclusions drawn from them. It must relate the described observations to other crucial studies. Authors may argue their own views on the topic. The significance and the practical application of the outcomes, the relationship to similar publications and comparison in areas of agreement and disagreement, instructions, and guidelines for future research and considerations of possible limitations of the study must be discussed.

Conversely, it must avoid that the discussion turning into a review of the topic and repeating concepts that have appeared in the introduction. Neither must the outcomes of the work be redone. Unjustified assertions and which are not supported by data or existing knowledge will be avoided.

Whatever limitations of the study that may affect the interpretation of the results will also be mentioned.

The journal does not set a conclusion section in original articles and reviews. These will be written in the last paragraph of the Discussion.

Acknowledgments: This section must list any kind of material and financial aid received. The granting body, institution or company must be pointed out and if applicable the number of projects assigned to it. Technical support, equipment support, collaboration (enquiries) or other financial support (grants or prizes must also be included.

Whichever natural or legal person mentioned must be informed and consent to their inclusion in this section.

Conflict of interest: In addition to indicating it in the cover letter, the text of the article must state whether there is a conflict of interest. This section must also notify whatever financial or personal relationship that may have an influence on the performance of editors and reviewers.

Bibliography: Only those papers that are related to any section of the manuscript will be cited. It is the authors' responsibility to properly review the bibliography to prior knowledge about their research. Reviewers will especially deem that all pertinent literature has been assessed. Preferably, unpublished papers and data will not be cited, albeit will be alluded to in the text.  

The abbreviations of the journals listed in the US National Library of Medicine for Medline/PubMed should be used. In the event of a journal is not included in Medline/PubMed, the full name of the journal should be used, without abbreviations.

The bibliography must be presented according to the order of appearance in the text of the body of the article, tables, or figures, with the corresponding correlative numbering in Arabic numerals. Assuming that the citation is placed next to a punctuation mark, the citation will precede the punctuation mark.

In the text, citation numbers must be given in superscript and in parentheses (see manuscript templates).

The citation format and style must strictly follow the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. Examples of citation can be consulted in: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html

Whenever possible, the DOI number of the reference should be mentioned at the end of the bibliographic reference.

Tables: They will include table numbering with Arabic numerals, which will be cited in correlative order in the text; title of the table at the top and abbreviations, acronyms, or explanations at the bottom. Particularly, large tables may encompass more than one page. The content must be unambiguous, and the encompassed data must not be repeated either in the text or in other tables or figures.

Figures. Figures will add all types of non-tabular material, images, (morphology, algorithms, histograms, graphs, etc.) and will be cited in a correlative order, using Arabic numerals, in the text. The figures must be submitted in adequate resolution and high quality. Figure captions should be written below the figure, referring to their corresponding number in Arabic numerals. Patient’s photographs should be performed in such a way that they are not identifiable. They should rather submit in JPEG or PNG format.

Decimal numbers and fractions: The use of a full stop as a decimal separator is advisable, although the comma remains equally valid, thus both 10.5 and 10,5 can be written as ten and a half'.

Figures less than unity must have a zero before the decimal separator (e.g., 0.2 and not 2).

The appropriate sign to simplify the reading of numbers with more than four digits is the space. For instance: 30 000. Neither the full stop (30,000) nor the comma (30,000) are recommended for this function.

Footnotes / Endnotes: Footnotes and Endnotes must not be used.

Annexes

If you have additional material that is essential for the understanding of the work to be published, please prepare separate files to be sent as attachments. .

Whether material subject to copyright or requiring prior permission for publication is provided, the pertinent authorizations must be attached as annexes.

Figures and tables may also be attached as separate files if the authors deem it appropriate.