ISSN 0121-8123
printed version

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

• Scope and policy
• Form and preparation of manuscripts
• Sending of manuscripts

The Colombian Journal of Rheumatology (Revista Colombiana de Reumatología) is the official organ of the Colombian Association of Rheumatology that is published every three months (quarterly) in March, June, September and December and is directed to generalists, internist, and many other specialties.

Authors submitting manuscripts should consider that they have not been published previously, in total or in part (e.g. figures or tables), in print or electronic format and are not under consideration by another publication or electronic medium except an abstract of less than 400 words. In addition, authors should send a letter stating that the manuscript has been read and approved by all them.

The manuscript may be submitted in the following order: 1. A page of title page, 2. A page of abstract and key words in Spanish and English, 3. Text or body of manuscript, 4. References, 5. Legends of illustrations , 6. Figures and tables. Pages should be numerated; page title should be page no.1.

Title
On the title page or first page include a title in Spanish and English, name of authors (first name and last name). Also on the title page include full names, e-mail addresses, highest academic degrees, and affiliations of all authors. The title of manuscript must be brief and neat and must reflect the content of the paper without abbreviations. Designate the corresponding author and provide his/her e-mail, address, phone, and fax numbers.

Summary
Include an abstract from 100 to 250 words for original studies, reviews (including meta-analyses) and consensus statements; and an abstract from 50 to 100 words for report or series of cases. Include the abstract in English and Spanish in two separate pages.

If an abstract is from an original paper or a reflection, it should be structured and be included the following sub-titles: Introduction, Objectives, Material and Methods, Results and Conclusions. Abbreviations are not allowed in the abstract except when units of measure are used.

Key Words
All manuscripts should have from 3 to 10 key words in Spanish and English. For this purpose the authors may use terms including in Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) of Index Medicus. In case of recent appearance and not including in the index medicus the authors can use current expressions

(See http://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/meshhome.html)

Text
Include the text in following order: Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, Statement of Disclosures, Financial Source and References. Do not use abbreviations, otherwise they must be preceded by a complete meaning the first time they are used. References, figures and tables should be cited in order of their citation in the text.

Figures must be included in each page accompanied by the corresponding legends. Tables should be included individually and in sequence in a page and elaborated in a Word file as simple as possible. Hard copies should be made in laser printer. It should be included three copies of figures and photographies including identification, foot and orientation on the back. Foot notes should be in a separate page. Figures should be less than 203x 254 mm (8 x 10 inches) and should be accompanied by corresponding authorization when the material has been published previously. In addition, authors must submit an informed consent when including photographs of human beings.

References
References should be written in Arabic numbers, double space and in numerical order of apparition. Number references must be cited in order as they are mentioned in the text and in parenthesis. List the authors with last name and the first letter(s) name(s). List up to six authors; if more than 6, list the first 6 and “et al”.
When listing references, write names of journals according to Index Medicus, year of publication, volume, first page and final page of the article. Title of journals may be written according of “List of Journals Indexed” published in January in Index Medicus (see also http://www.nlm.nih.gov)

Nomenclature
Names of gender and species must be written in italics. It is advisable to write complete microorganisms names the first time are described, including title and abstract. After that may be used the first letter of gender and should be kept the complete name of the species.

Ethics
Authors accept and follow regulations defined by The International Editors Committee of Medical Journals to submit manuscripts: http://www.icmje.org.

Every manuscript will be evaluated by peer review and we will notify by mail whether the paper is accepted for publication or whether it will requir

Manuscripts may be submitted to Asociación Colombiana de Reumatología in original and two copies including the graphic material along with an electronic copy to: Asociación Colombiana de Reumatología ñ Oficina 603, Calle 94 No. 15-32, Bogotá, Colombia. Phones: 571-6350840 – 571-6350841 – 571-6215134, Fax: 571-6215145.
Manuscripts must be double-spaced throughout, including title page, abstract, text, references, legends for illustrations, and tables. Start the title page, abstract, text or body of the manuscript, references, legends, and tables in sequential order on a new page, numbered consecutively, beginning with the title page. Use preferably standard 10- or 12-point font size, Microsoft Office Word. Ample margins of at least 2.5 cm (1 inch) in paper bond and printed on one side of a page should be used. Check manuscript spelling prior to submission.