JOURNALS - INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

Authors should submit their complete manuscripts, with text and illustrations, in three copies (the original manuscript plus black and white photocopies or prints), including a diskette or CD (text and images). Authors are kindly requested not to submit any manuscripts via e-mail previous to the Editor’s consent.

1) TEXT

Print your manuscripts on white A4 paper; print only on one side of the paper; use 20 mm margins, 25 lines a page; left-align. Number pages consecutively, beginning with the first one, in the lower right-hand corner of each page; use Times New Roman fonts; use double spacing and normal style throughout; words should not be split at the end of a line. Create tables with a normal word processor. Use numbers and not letters to denote your series. Electronic copies of the manuscripts on a IBM-compatible or Mac diskette or CD should use Word 6 for Windows or for Mac (or an older version of the same software). Diskettes or CDs should be labelled as follows: author’s full name and address, software used; the same data should appear on the attached E-mail as well. Each text will be subdivided as follows: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Outcomes, Discussion. Such titles should be written using clear, capital, underlined, centred types. You do not need to include a conclusion (it already appears in the abstract). Each part of the manuscript should be featured in the same file, whose title should contain the author’s surname. Each part of the article should start on a new page, according to the following order: title, abstract, text, acknowledgements, references, tables, legend.

2) TITLE

The title page must feature, in the following order:

• title of the article (in Italian and in English)
• keywords (no more than 5, in Italian and in English)
• authors' surname and name's initial
• name and full address of the Department, Teaching Hospital or other Institution the work has been accomplished at
• full name and address, telephone and/or fax number, e-mail address of the corresponding author whom mail, print proofs and abstracts will be sent to.

3) AUTHORS

A maximum of 6 authors for each article (3 for short clinical cases) is admitted: the authors in charge must sign their manuscripts; all others who contributed to the work who are not authors may be named in the Acknowledgments. Insert also the name of the primary of department or institution where work was done.

4) ABSTRACT

Abstracts must be written in Italian and English and they must be at least 150 words long. Such abstracts should state the purpose of the study or investigation, basic procedures, main findings and conclusions. No abbreviations should be used and no footnotes, references, statistical data should be included.

5) TRADE NAMES

Trade names of medicines, materials, instruments, etc., should be avoided; if, for a better understanding, authors cannot refrain from citing them, they should write them in quotes and with the first letter in capitals, following their scientific name.

6) ABBREVIATIONS AND INITIALS

The full term for which an abbreviation stands should precede its first use in the text.

7) TABLES

Authors should avoid large tables, with abundant data. It is much better to insert data in more than one table. Type or print out each table with double spacing on a separate sheet of paper; insert data horizontally. Number and title tables in the upper right-hand corner and place explanatory matter in footnotes. Quotations of tables in the text should be indicated with the abbreviation (e.g., Tab. 1). Whenever there is an abbreviation, it must be accompanied by a legend.

8) ILLUSTRATIONS (PAPER VERSION)

Black and white prints of photographs, drawings, graphs, diagrams should be submitted, usually 10 x 15 cm. No slides, photographs or other illustrations in full colour can be reproduced (if not as an exception to benegotiated with the editorship). Radiographies must be submitted as photographs: identification letters should be written in upper case and their dimension should be appropriate. Each figure should have a pencil-written label on its back indicating the number of the figure, author's name, and top of the figure (indicated by an arrow). Quotations of tables in the text should be indicated with the abbreviation (e.g., Fig. 1). Each illustration’s legend should not exceed 40 words; type or print out legends for illustrations using double spacing, starting on a separate page, with Arabic numerals corresponding to the illustrations. Photomicrographs should have internal scale markers and captions stating whether the photographs have been coloured.

9) ILLUSTRATIONS (ELECTRONIC VERSION)

Files should be saved on formatted diskettes, CDs or ZIP disks for PC or MAC. Images should be saved as a separate file (10 x 15 cm). Identification letters that might be used should be indicated on the back only (e.g., Fig. 1A, 1B, 1C ...); the Editor will adopt standard numbers for each illustration. Designs-graphs-diagrams (black and white) should have a resolution of 800 dpi and they should be saved in either a BMP (bit map) or TIFF format. Radiographies (different tones of grey) and digital intra- operative images (colour) should have a resolution of 300 dpi and they should be saved as JPEG, with medium compression.

10) PRIVACY

No features or data which the patient or his/her case sheet could be identified from should be included, unless a release form signed by that same patient is provided for. If a release is not submitted with the figure, the author should indicate how to mask it, so that the person cannot be identified; in the absence of such indication, the Editor will make the necessary alterations in order to avoid the identification of the patient.

11) COPYRIGHT

If any illustration has been previously published or if it belongs to some private owner, the author must submit written permission from the copyright holder (e.g., the publisher or the author) to reproduce it.

12) ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Acknowledgements should be written on a separate page; authors can express their gratitude to persons who provided purely technical help, translators or other contributors, but not those who played an active role in the preparation of the article. Customary acknowledgements regard those who have offered scholarships or any other forms of financial support. Acknowledgements for material borrowed from any person or institution must be written as follows: "With kind permission of ………, from……[state the source, if such work has been published]".

13) REFERENCES

Type with double spacing on a separate sheet of paper; insert all references according to the order in which they are quoted in the text. If more than 6 authors, cite first three and add “et al”. Authors should not quote summaries, personal correspondence, articles that have not been published yet or other unissued texts (such as letters or posters). Sample citation: Journal article Goldner JL. Surgical reconstruction of upper limb in cerebral palsy. Hand Clin 1988; 4: 223-65. Chapter in a multi-authored book Enjalbert EF. Classification fonctionelle de la prehension chez l’hemiplegique adulte. In Pelissier J: Hemiplegie vasculaire de l’adulte; Medicine de reeducation. Paris: Masson, 1988: 753-61. Multi-authored book Zancolli E. Chirurgia della mano. Padova: Piccin, 1986.

14) REFERENCES WITHIN THE TEXT

References should be referred to appropriate number in the text. Sample citation: ….. the total arthroplasty of the wrist (5) implies …….. ….. the transfer of the ulnar flexor of wrist (1, 4, 9- 11) is practised ….