Information for authors

Manuscript preparation

For authors

Information for authors Search

Manuscript preparation

There are a number of publication types you may be preparing for publication in the Journals Library, depending on your award type:

You should follow the guidance for your publication type in conjunction with this guidance on manuscript preparation. Check with the Journals Library editorial office (journals.library@nihr.ac.uk) if you are unsure which guidance to follow. 
This section provides generic guidance you should follow for all headings applicable to your publication type.

 

Format

Please ensure that you format your manuscript in line with the requirements set out below:

  • Presented in Microsoft Word
  • Use of a standard font
  • Each page should be numbered
  • A total word count should be provided for the manuscript, plus a separate word count for the scientific summary (for PGfAR and TAR reports) and abstract.
  • Quotations over 40 words in length should be displayed as a separate paragraph (please do not use text boxes)
  • Footnotes should not be used
  • Hyperlinks - please ensure that if there are any active links in your manuscript, the link text provided matches the DOI you have linked to. The production house will use the link text you have provided to create the hyperlinks

 

Artwork preparation

All artwork will be redrawn to journal style.

The resolution and image quality of figures and photographic images are very important. Therefore, please follow the advice below when supplying these items.

Most image formats can be used, e.g. TIFF or EPS files. Line figures drawn in PowerPoint are also acceptable.

Below are some guidelines for each type of artwork file:

  • Images that are made up of photographic images and both text and lines can be saved as EPS or TIFF (at a resolution of 600 dpi)
  • For line art EPS files give the best quality
  • BITMAP files (TIFF, JPEG, etc.) files of text and line art should be saved at 800 dpi
  • Supply colour photographic images in CMYK colour mode, not RGB
  • Photographic images should be saved at 250–300 dpi
  • Digital images (i.e. directly from a digital camera or other imaging device or from scanned photographs) should be saved as a TIFF file
  • All photographic images should be anonymised

 

Editorial house-style

The following stations provide guidance on the editorial house style: Use of numbers, Naming conventions and Language and presentation. This guidance is not exhaustive, but provides the key elements of house-style that you should follow when preparing your final report.

The following online sources also provide useful guidance on standards for report writing:

 

Language and presentation

 

Abbreviations

Try to avoid using abbreviations in the title or headings within the report, except for common abbreviations (i.e. AIDS, CPR, CT scan) and RCTs. They may be used in the main body of the report, but must be defined at their first mention.  At the front of the report, please provide an alphabetical list of abbreviations used in the text.  To aid readability, please do not use any abbreviations in your abstract/plain English summary/scientific summary.  Commonly used abbreviations may be substituted at production stage, the final editorial decision rests with NETSCC. 

Whilst ‘versus’ should be used in the main text, the abbreviation ‘vs.’ can be used in figures, tables, their legends and in parentheses.

 

Eponyms

Non-possessive for syndromes; possessive for diseases and anything else, e.g. Down syndrome, Addison’s disease (von Willebrand disease OK), Barrett’s oesophagus, Raynaud’s phenomenon.

 

Cross-references

All cross-references are to be italicised if they are referencing the same report. Chapter and appendix cross-references should always be preceded by ‘see’; figure and table cross-references should be preceded by ‘see’ only if they are not the main citation (the citation that the figure/table will be placed next to). Use ‘and’ not a comma when more than one figure or table or parts thereof are cross-referenced.

  • e.g. see Appendix 1
  • e.g. see Chapter 1
  • e.g. see Chapter 4, Decision model
  • e.g. see Accounting for uncertainty
  • e.g. see Figures 5 and 6
  • e.g. see Figure 14 and Table 7
  • e.g. see Table 11a and b 

However, if a cross-reference is for another report, then it is in lower case and not italicised.

  • e.g. see table 1 in Myers et al.

 

Currency

£(pounds) is the default currency used in all NIHR Journals.  Where there is a requirement to use a local currency, for example, $(dollars), this can be used and should always be followed by £(pounds),  including a conversion rate and date of conversion (as per the CHEERS guidance).

 

Dates

Inevitably, some of the information in your report will become out-of-date, sometimes even before your journal issue is published. To minimise these occurrences, please be thoughtful about how you convey information about future events, such as policy decisions by policy bodies. For example, ‘The NSC intended to consider the policy implications of X in 2012’ (rather than ‘A decision was still awaited in 2012’).

 

Glossary

If the subject area is highly specialised, please produce a glossary – an alphabetical list of technical or medical terms with accompanying explanations presented with the purpose of aiding a reader.

 

Italicisation

Latin terms (except et al.) and names of muscles are not italicised. All single letters that represent variables (x, y, z) should be in italics, for example x-axis and y-axis.

 

Plain language

We encourage the use of plain language where possible in report writing. Please see the Plain English Campaign website for further information. This includes examples about the principles (including report writing tips) and training courses.

 

Spelling

UK spelling. Use –ise spellings (rather than –ize) for words such as globalise/organise (except when such words appear in the titles of referenced papers).

 

Naming conventions

 

Computer programs

Computer programs/software in initial caps, e.g. Copernic Agent Basic, SPSS, Excel, PowerPoint, RevMan, Eppi-Reviewer, Stata, Stimul8, WinBUGS, etc.

Names of countries

Use ISO 3166-1

 

Organisations and government departments

Use initial caps when it is possible to prefix the name with ‘the’, indicating that this organisation is the only one of its kind. For example, the Department of Health (DH), the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the National Health Service (NHS). If the organisation is one of many, do not capitalise (except in the acronym). For example, a primary care trust (PCT), or a strategic health authority (SHA).

 

Titles and headings

Only the first word of a title or heading should have an initial capital letter.

 

Trade names

Drugs should be referred to by generic name (check BNF and use rINNs), with trade name and manufacturer at first mention in the scientific summary and main text, e.g. oseltamivir (Tamiflu®, Roche). 

Equipment should have trade name, trademark or registered symbol, manufacturer, and a brief address (town and, for example, US state) at first mention in the scientific summary  and main text, e.g. Clearview® Chlamydia test (Inverness Medical Innovations, Princeton, NJ). 

Computer software/programs should always state the version, with manufacturer and location (town) at first mention in the scientific summary and main text, e.g. WINBUGS 1.4.3 (MRC Biostatistics Unit, Cambridge, UK).

A brief address (town and, for example, US state, country) should be given at the first mention of company names in the text.

 

Use of numbers

 

Ages

  • Ages should be written in full from one to ten and as numerals for 11 upwards. For example: over 40, under nine
  • Always use numerals and hyphens for the adjectival form, e.g. ‘8-year-old child’ or ‘80-year-old woman’

 

Equation numbering

Please number all equations in your report in the following format, aligned to the right of the equation. For example:

S= −2.59N2+8.74N+90.07                                                                                      (1)

 

Numbers, units and dates

  • Numbers in the text should usually be written in full from one to ten and as numerals for 11 upwards
  • Ordinal numbers up to and including nine in full, thereafter numerals, e.g. 21st
  • However, numerals may be used for numbers less than ten if presented in parentheses, and numbers at the beginning of a sentence should always be written in full
  • Numbers followed by units should always be presented as numerals
  • Units of time should not be abbreviated: years, months, weeks, days, hours, minutes, seconds
  • Compound units separated by a slash: kg/m2, ml (not mL)

 

Percentages

  • Per cent should normally be written in full; however, if this appears several times within a paragraph it is acceptable to use the % symbol
  • The % symbol should always be used in mathematical and statistical contexts, tables and lists
  • The % symbol must always be associated with a numeral, e.g. 7% not seven %

Units of measurement

Units must always be use SI or SI-derived units.