Instructions to authors for submission of papers to Breast Cancer Online.

BCO articles are commissioned directly at the request of the editorial and advisory board members. However, should you have an idea for an article in any of the areas covered by BCO please do not hesitate to contact us in advance to discuss its suitability. It would be of great assistance if this initial contact could include a synopsis of the proposed article.

Submission of manuscripts
Presentation of manuscripts
Article layout
Preparation of figures/illustrations
Proprietary names

Submission of manuscripts

Commissioned authors are encouraged to submit their article electronically by email or by post on an IBM formatted disk.

By E-mail:

Authors are requested to submit their article by email:

BCO Editorial Office

Please send text and figures in separate files following the following advice for the creation of each (see below).

By Post:

Authors are requested to submit 2 copies of their manuscript and illustrations as well as a disk containing the final version of the manuscript (see 'Presentation of Manuscripts').

Deborah Bailey
Editorial Assistant
Breast Cancer Online
Professorial Unit of Surgery
City Hospital
Nottingham
NG5 1PB
UK

Rejected papers will not be returned to authors except on request. The Editor cannot accept responsibility for damage to or loss of material or disks.

Papers that contain the results of human and/or animal studies will only be accepted for publication if it is made clear that a high standard of ethics was applied in carrying out the investigations. In the case of invasive studies of humans, papers should include a statement that a local ethical committee approved the research protocol.

The Editor reserves the right to make editorial and literary corrections. Any opinions expressed or policies advocated do not necessarily reflect the opinions or policies of the Editor.

Presentation of manuscripts

These instructions are in accordance with the Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Med Educ. 1999; 33(1):66-78

Disk submission. We require submission of the final version of your article in electronic format either on a disk or by email. We prefer 3.5" floppy disks or CD-ROMs prepared on IBM or Macintosh compatible hardware and software. If submitting by post please ensure that the disk is accompanied by 2 hard copies (along with tables and illustrations) of the manuscript. They must be exact copies, as the manuscript may be used to set your paper if setting from disk proves impracticable.

Please ensure that all sections of your article are in a single file (preferably MS Word or compatible) in the order set out below and with references in the correct style. Figures and tables will be handled separately and should therefore be supplied in an appropriate format. Table and figure legends should be supplied in the original manuscript and in the files containing the table and figures so that they can be matched.

Instructions for typing: Please read these carefully and give a copy to your typist if you are not preparing the disk yourself.

•  Set your line spacing to double space and type on one side of the paper only.
• Do not justify your text - allow it to run ragged on the right hand margin. Many word processing packages have the justification mode automatically turned on and this must be turned off.
• Turn off the automatic hyphenation option. Only use hyphens when they are part of a word.
• Never use the letter 'I' for the number 1. Never use the letter 'O' for the number 0.
• Never use the carriage return (enter) at the end of lines within a paragraph. Use the carriage return only at the end of paragraphs or after a first heading.
• Use normal type for headings. Capitalize the first letter of the word only. Headings should be ranged to the left hand margin and not centered. Code your headings on the printout only by labelling them (1) for a major heading or (2) for a minor heading.
• Type headlines in bold or italic
• Please use single quotation marks. Only use double quotation marks for quotes within quotes.
• If your PC has italics, use sparingly. You may underline words if you want to indicate italics and this is not available on your word processor.
• Always insert a space between a number and a unit, e.g. 5 mm.
• Do not indent lists. However, if preparing a list within a list, use a tab, not a space to indent the sublist. Bullets, numbers, alphabet characters or dashes may be used but please use rationally and consistently.
• Retain a copy of the disk and the printout you sent.
• Remove any backup files from the disk before submission.
• Clearly label the disk with your name, the title of the paper, and the details of the hardware and software used.
• Ensure the disk is protected to avoid damage or X-ray inspection.
• Your printout must be identical to your disk as the printout may be used if setting from the disk proves impracticable.

Article layout

Papers should be set out as follows, with each section beginning on a separate sheet: title page, summary/abstract, keywords, text, acknowledgements, references, tables, captions to tables/figures.

Title page: The title page should give the following information: 1) title of the article; 2) initial and name of each author, with the highest academic degree(s); 3) name and address of the department or institution to which the work should be attributed; 4) names, address, telephone and fax number of the author responsible for correspondence and to whom request for offprints should be sent and 5) sources of support in the form of grants.

Summary/Abstract: This should be no longer than 250 words and be arranged in the same order as the main text.

Keywords: Please include a list of keywords which best summarize the article. These will be used on the Internet to identify the article on search engines such as Google. If you are unsure as to the terms best used please consult the list of keywords used by PubMed (MeSH).

Text: Headings should be appropriate to the nature of the paper. In general those for experimental papers should follow the usual conventions. Other papers can be subdivided as the author desires; the use of headings enhances readability.

Do not use 'he', 'his', etc. where the sex of the person is unknown; say 'the patient' etc. Avoid inelegant alternatives as 'he/she'. Patients should not automatically designated as 'she" and doctor as 'he'.

References: The accuracy of references is the responsibility of the author. References should be entered consecutively by Arabic numbers in square parentheses e.g [6] in the text. The reference list should be listed in numerical order on a separate sheet in double spacing and where possible a URL to the original article listed (where available). References to journals should include the author's name and initials (list all authors when six or fewer; when seven or more, list only the first three and add et al.), full title of the paper, journal?s title abbreviated (using Index Medicus abbreviations), year of publication, volume number, first and last page numbers.

For example: Albert M J, Faruque S M, Ansaruzzaman M et al. Sharing of virulence-associated properties at the phenotypic and generic levels between enteropathogenic Escherichia coli and Hafnia alvei J Med Microbiol 1992;37:310-314

References to books should be set out as follows: Facklam R R, Carey R B. Streptococci and aerococci. In: Lennetti E H (ed) Manual of Clinical Microbiology, 4th edn. Washington, D. C. American Society for Microbiology 1985: 156-157

Tables: Tables in the electronic files whether on disk or via email should be presented in separate files to text. Use only one tab (not spaces) to separate each column in a table. Do not worry about the alignment of columns on the screen, but if you wish to lay the table out on the hard copy, set each tab as appropriate.

Each table should be presented on a separate page and should contain only horizontal rules.

Do not submit tables as graphic images or photographs.

Care should be taken to ensure that all units are included. A short descriptive title should appear above each table and any footnotes, suitably identified, should appear below. Ensure that each table is cited in the text.

Preparation of figures/illustrations

Please note that it is the responsibility of authors to produce and supply artwork at their own cost. Illustrations will be handled conventionally and can be supplied on disk in these formats: gif, jpeg, tiff and psd.

Photographic illustrations and radiographs: These should be submitted as clear, highly contrasted black and white or colour prints (unmounted). Alternatively these can be supplied as high resolution graphic images (minimum resolution 600 d.p.i) on a disk or via email. Photomicrographs should have the magnification and details of staining techniques shown. X-ray film should be submitted as photographic prints or graphic images, carefully made to bring out the detail to be illustrated, with an overlay indicating the area of importance.

All illustrations should be clearly marked (by a label pasted on the back or by a soR crayon) with the figure number and author's name and the top of the figure should be illustrated with an arrow. Never use ink of any kind. Never use paperclips as these can scratch or mark illustrations. Caption should be typed, - double space, on separate sheets from the main text.

Patient confidentiality. Where illustrations must include recognizable individuals, living or dead and of whatever age, great care must be taken to ensure that consent for publication in any medium has been given.

If identifiable features are not essential to the illustration, please indicate where the illustration can be cropped. In cases where consent has not been obtained and recognizable features may appear, it will be necessary to retouch the illustration to mask the eyes or otherwise render the individual ?officially unrecognizable?.

Permission to reproduce borrowed illustrations or tables or identifiable photographs. Written permission to reproduce borrowed material (illustrations and tables) must be obtained from the original publisher and authors, and submitted with the typescript. Borrowed material should be acknowledged in the captions in this style: 'Reproduced by the kind permission of...(publishers) from...(reference)'.

Proprietary names

Proprietary names of drugs, instruments etc. should be indicated by the use of initial capital letters.