DYNAMIC MEDICAL THEORIES (DMT)

Instructions for Authors & Manuscript Preparation Guidelines

1. General Principles & Journal Policies

For comprehensive information regarding the journal's policies on submission, peer-review, publication, and ethical standards, kindly visit the Journal Policies page. Similarly, for detailed information about the journal, please visit the About page. It is strongly advised to review the journal's policies before submitting any manuscripts to ensure compliance with the journal's guidelines.

Manuscripts submitted for evaluation should be original and not previously presented or published in any electronic or print medium. If a manuscript was previously presented at a conference or meeting, authors should provide detailed information about the event, including the name, date, and location of the organization.

Manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with ICMJE-Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals (updated in May 2023). Authors are required to prepare manuscripts in accordance with the relevant guideline listed below:

·        Randomized Research Studies and Clinical Trials: CONSORT guidelines (for protocols, please see the SPIRIT guidance)

·        Observational Original Research Studies: STROBE guidelines

·        Studies on Diagnostic Accuracy: STARD guidelines

·        Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis: PRISMA guidelines (for protocols, please see the PRISMA-P guidelines)

·        Experimental Animal Studies: ARRIVE guidelines and Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, 8th edition

·        Nonrandomized Evaluations of Behavioral and Public Health Interventions: TREND guidelines

·        Genetic Association Studies: STREGA guidelines

·        Qualitative Research: SRQR guidelines

To find the right guideline for your research, please complete the questionnaire by Equator Network. Dynamic Medical Theories encourages authors to follow the 'Sex and Gender Equity in Research – SAGER – guidelines' when preparing their manuscripts to promote the inclusion of sex and gender considerations in research. Before submission, authors can consult EASE Guidelines for Authors and Translators to produce clear, concise, and accurate manuscripts that are easy to understand and free of common errors and pitfalls.

Manuscript Submission: Manuscripts can only be submitted through the journal's online manuscript submission and evaluation system. Manuscripts submitted via any other medium and submissions by anyone other than one of the authors will not be evaluated.

2. Mandatory Documents for Initial Submission

In addition to the manuscript files, authors are required to submit the following during the initial submission:

Copyright & Authorship: Copyright Agreement and Acknowledgement of Authorship Form (must be signed and approved by all authors).

Conflict of Interest Disclosure: ICMJE Potential Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form (must be individually completed and signed by all contributing authors). These forms are available on the Dynamic Medical Theories platform.

3. Preparation of the Manuscript

Title Page

A separate title page should be submitted with all submissions and this page must include:

·        The full title of the manuscript as well as a short title (running head) of no more than 50 characters.

·        Full names of only the authors directly affiliated with the work. The maximum number of authors is eight for original articles, five for case reports and 'How to Do It' articles, and three for interesting images and correspondence. Exceeding numbers must be justified to the Editor.

·        Name and location of no more than two institutional affiliations where the work was actually performed. If more than one department or institution are given, indicate the affiliation of each author clearly.

·        Name(s), affiliations, highest academic degree(s), and ORCID IDs of the author(s).

·        Grant information and detailed disclosures on other sources of support.

·        Name, address, telephone (including mobile phone number), and email address of the corresponding author.

·        Acknowledgment of individuals who contributed to the preparation of the manuscript but do not fulfill authorship criteria.

ORCID ID

The Open Researcher and Contributor ID (ORCID) number of each author must be submitted when creating an account for correspondence (https://orcid.org).

Abstract

An abstract should be submitted with all submissions except for Letters to the Editor. The abstract of Research Articles should be structured with subheadings: Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusion. Please refer to Table 1 for word count specifications.

Keywords

Each submission must be accompanied by a minimum of three to a maximum of five keywords for subject indexing at the end of the abstract. The keywords should be listed in full without abbreviations and selected from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) database.

Main Points

All submissions except letters to the editor should be accompanied by 3 to 5 'main points.' These main points should highlight the most important results of the study and emphasize the primary message of the manuscript. The main points should be structured as a list and written in a clear, straightforward manner. Since the main points are intended for experts and specialists in the field, they should be written in plain language that is easy to comprehend.

4. Manuscript Types

Original Articles

This is the most important type of article since it provides new information based on original research. Acceptance of original papers will be based upon the originality and importance of the investigation. The main text of original articles should be structured with Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, and Discussion subheadings. Please check Table 1 for limitations.

Clinical Trials

Dynamic Medical Theories adopts the ICMJE's clinical trial registration policy, which requires that clinical trials must be registered in a publicly accessible registry that is a primary register of the WHO International Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) or in ClinicalTrials.gov. By registering clinical trials in a public registry, authors promote transparency and accountability.

• Clinical trial registry is mandatory for prospective research projects evaluating the relationship between a health-related intervention and an outcome in human participants.
• Registration must be completed at or before the time of first patient enrollment.
• Registries must include a minimum acceptable 24-item trial registration dataset based on current ICMJE recommendations.
• Authors are required to state a data-sharing plan for the clinical trial registration (refer to ICMJE Clinical Trial Policy and COPE guidelines).

Reporting Statistical Analysis

Statistical analyses must be conducted in accordance with international statistical reporting standards (Altman et al.). Information on statistical analyses must be provided under a separate subheading within the Material and Methods section, specifying the software package used.

• P values should be expressed to 2 digits to the right of the decimal point unless the first 2 digits are zeros, in which case 3 digits should be provided (e.g., report P = .002 instead of P < .01).
• Values close to .05 may be reported to 3 decimal places as .05 is an arbitrary cutoff (e.g., P = .053).
• P values less than .001 should be designated as P < .001 rather than exact values (e.g., P = .000006).
• Units must conform strictly to the International System of Units (SI).

Review Articles

Reviews prepared by authors with extensive knowledge in a particular field and a high-impact publication record are welcomed (invited or unsolicited). Reviews should describe, discuss, and evaluate the current state of knowledge in clinical and basic science on all aspects of Vascular Surgery and guide future studies. Subheadings may be planned by the authors, but each review must include an 'Introduction' and a 'Conclusion'.

Case Reports

Brief descriptions of a previously undocumented disease process, unique unreported manifestations/treatments of a known entity, or rare complications. Case reports must include adequate images/figures and must be accompanied by patient 'Informed Consent' whether identities are disclosed or not.

Other Manuscript Formats

·        Editorial Comments: Invited expert insight and critical analysis (max 1000 words). Does not include an abstract, keywords, tables, figures, or other media.

·        Letters to the Editor: Discussion of recent articles, overlooked aspects, or educative cases. Unstructured text; must be submitted within 4 weeks of publication; no abstract or keywords; cited article must be referenced.

·        Image of the Month: High-quality, rare clinical images/videos. Title max 10 words, legend max 250 words, max 4 images (or 3 images + 1 MP4 video), max 5 authors.

·        Video Article: Clinical case or innovative surgical techniques presented via video (5–8 minutes, MP4/MOV/WMV) with structured abstract (Objective, Methods, Results, Conclusion), voice narration, and no music.

·        Technical Note: Concise descriptions of techniques, procedures, or equipment modifications relevant to vascular/endovascular medicine. Sections: Introduction, Technique/Methods, Discussion. No extensive literature reviews.

·        Short Communications & Brief Reports: Brief, focused articles presenting new research or preliminary theories formatted as a full original article (Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion).

5. References (AMA Manual of Style 11th Edition)

Preference must be given to recent, up-to-date publications. If ahead-of-print articles are cited, provide the DOI number. References must strictly comply with the AMA Manual of Style 11th Edition. Authors are responsible for reference accuracy. Journal titles must be abbreviated in accordance with Index Medicus / MEDLINE / PubMed.

• 1 to 4 authors: List all authors.
• 5 or more authors: List the first 3 authors followed by 'et al.'
• In-text citations must use Arabic numerals in parentheses: e.g., (1) or (1-3).
• Reference limits: Letters to the Editor: max 10; Case Reports: max 20; Original Research / Reviews: max 40.

Reference Style Examples

• Journal Article: Celbis O, Karakoc Y, Ozdemir B, et al. Investigation of lead mobilization from the buckshot residues to the critical organs. Biol Trace Elem Res. 2011;143:688-694.
• Book Chapter: DiMaio WJ, DiMaio D. Time of death. In: Forensic Pathology. 2nd ed. CRC Press; 2001:21-42.
• Online Journal Article (with DOI): Tamburini S, Shen N, Chih Wu H, Clemente KC. The microbiome in early life: implications for health outcomes. Nat Med. Published online July 7, 2016. doi:10.1038/nm4142
• Epub Ahead of Print: Cai L, Yeh BM, Westphalen AC, Roberts JP, Wang ZJ. Adult living donor liver imaging. Diagn Interv Radiol. Published online February 24, 2016. doi:10.5152/dir.2016.15323
• Conference Proceedings: Brandes U, Wagner D. A Bayesian paradigm for dynamic graph layout. In: 11th International Symposium on Graph Drawing; November 12-15, 2003; New York, USA:236-247.
• Dissertation/Thesis: Karakoc Y. Biological effect of direct electrical current in essential (idiopathic) hyperhidrosis. PhD thesis, Istanbul University, 1996.

6. Tables, Figures, and Visual Guidelines

Tables

Tables should be embedded directly within the main manuscript document and numbered consecutively in the order they are cited in the text. Each table must have a descriptive title placed above it. Abbreviations used within the table must be defined below in footnotes, even if previously defined in the main text. Tables must be created using the standard 'Insert Table' feature and should complement rather than duplicate text data.

Figures and Figure Legends

Figures must be submitted as separate files in TIFF or JPEG format and NOT embedded in the main Word document. If a figure consists of subunits, each subunit must be submitted as an individual file without merging. Do not label subunits directly on the images (e.g., a, b, c); instead, distinguish components within the figure legends. Pointers (arrows, asterisks) may be used. Images must be fully anonymized to eliminate identifying patient or institutional details. Minimum resolution is 300 DPI. Figure legends should be listed collectively at the end of the main document.

7. Additional Technical Specifications

·        Abbreviations: Must be defined at first mention both in the abstract and in the main text, followed by the abbreviation in parentheses, and used consistently thereafter.

·        Identifying Products: When mentioning drugs, medical devices, hardware, or software, provide the trade name, manufacturer, city, and country in parentheses [e.g., Discovery St PET/CT scanner (General Electric, Milwaukee, WI, USA)].

·        Supplementary Materials: Supplementary audio, video, raw datasets, and appendices must be submitted in a separate section following the references with concise explanatory descriptions.

8. Revision and Production Stages

Revisions

Authors receiving 'Minor' or 'Major' revision decisions will receive an official decision letter specifying reviewer feedback and submission deadlines. Submissions must include a point-by-point 'Response to Reviewers' document (detailing changes and corresponding line numbers) alongside an annotated/tracked-changes version of the manuscript. Unapproved deadline expirations may result in cancellation of the revision option.

Production and Proofs

Accepted manuscripts undergo professional copy-editing and language refinement. Post-editing, the manuscript is published online as 'ahead-of-print.' Prior to final release, the corresponding author receives a PDF proof for review, which must be carefully examined and formally approved within 2 days.

Table 1. Limitations for each manuscript type