Instructions to Authors

The PIDSP Journal publishes original and peer-reviewed scientific papers and clinical researches on topics relevant to pediatric infectious diseases. The articles may include, but are not limited to original researches, case reports, lectures, review articles, rapid communications, and correspondences.

Papers may be submitted through either snail mail or email. Should you opt to send your manuscript through post, please address the same to Carmina A. Delos Reyes, M.D. and Arlene S. Dy-Co, M.D., Editor-in-Chief, PIDSP Journal, Unit 4 Metro Townhomes, #35 Scout Tuazon corner Scout Gandia Sts. Quezon City, Philippines; otherwise, send the manuscript through email address pidsp2009@yahoo.com. If sent through mail, an electronic copy (in a CD) of the Manuscript should also be included.

All manuscripts submitted are assumed to be exclusively submitted to the PIDSP Journal unless otherwise stated. Please refer to the “Unified requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals” (www.icmje.org/index.html) for guidelines in manuscript writing.

Enclosed with the Manuscript must be a signed PIDSP Article Publishing Agreement (form available at www.pidsphil.org), which will attest to the following facts: (1) that it has not been published and is not under simultaneous consideration elsewhere for publication; (2) that all co-authors have reviewed and approved of the manuscript; (3) that should there be any potential conflict of interest, especially from any financial associations, the same will be fully disclosed; (4) that all sources of funding and institutional affiliations of the authors will be indicated; (5) that if the study involves human subjects, informed consent from these subjects were taken, or if minors, from their guardians; (6) that the research has been evaluated by an ethics board before the research was performed; and (7) that full copyright of the manuscript is assigned to the PIDSP Journal.

The author or each of the authors, in case there are many, must have contributed significantly to the submitted work as follows: (1) conception and/or design or analysis and interpretation of data; and (2) drafting of the manuscript or its revision if it is for highly significant intellectual content. Participation only in the collection of data does not qualify one for authorship; but, the contribution may be acknowledged in the Acknowledgment Section. A corresponding author should be identified among the authors.

Submitted manuscripts shall be reviewed and selected by the editors; they will be subject to editorial revisions in order to conform to the style and standards of the journal. The paper shall also be further reviewed by external reviewers. Authors shall be contacted about these changes or may be advised to revise certain portions. Authors of the selected papers shall be informed when their paper will be published.

Finally, a manuscript must include the following sections and must be arranged in the following sequence: TITLE PAGE, AUTHORS, INSTITUTION and PLACE OF STUDY, ABSTRACT, BODY OF THE MANUSCRIPT, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, and REFERENCES; TABLES, LEGENDS, and ILLUSTRATIONS must be incorporated in the TEXT. The Manuscript must be encoded in Microsoft Word 2007 or its equivalent, typed double-spaced throughout with ½ inch paragraph indentation, and with ample margins, preferably one inch all around.

The PIDSP Journal requires a completed CONSORT 2010 checklist and flow diagram as a condition of submission when reporting the results of a randomized trial. Templates for these can be found here or on the CONSORT website [www.consort-statement.org] which also describes several CONSORT checklist extensions for different designs and types of data beyond two group parallel trials. At minimum, your article should report the content addressed by each item of the checklist. Meeting these basic reporting requirements will greatly improve the value of your trial report and may enhance its chances for eventual publication.

General Guidelines

1. Full TITLE should be clear and concise. Authors should include given and family names, degrees and academic positions/affiliations, if any. Indicate the name, address, telephone number, cell phone number and email address of the author to whom correspondence can be made.
2. The ABSTRACT should not exceed 250 words; it must state clearly the OBJECTIVES, METHODOLOGY, RESULT, and CONCLUSION. At least three keywords, preferably using terms from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of Index Medicus, should be listed down horizontally under the abstract for purposes of cross-indexing.
3. BODY OF THE MANUSCRIPT.
   1. Body parts of the paper must be arranged in the following order: INTRODUCTION, MATERIALS and METHODS, RESULTS, and DISCUSSION and RECOMMENDATIONS.
      Introduction should be 3-paragraph-short and sharp, address background information on the study ; purpose of the study; and how this is different, related or better from other studies.
      Methods section should describe what was the research plan, what were the materials used or types of patients included and what were the methods used. Others should be able to evaluate the research performed and enough detail must be provided in order to replicate the study. Describe the main features of the study design accurately so that the study can be reproduced and specify the outcome variables. Study/sampling/data flow charts can be used to describe complicated sampling/study designs. Describe the target population, how the sample was selected (e.g. random sample, any stratification used), the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the assignment mechanism (randomised or non-randomised) and any blinding techniques used (e.g. single or double blind). Describe the expected sample size and the outcome variables. State the assumptions made on the distribution of data, the choice of significance levels and power upon which this sample size was based. Provide clear descriptions of the main features of the statistical analysis (e.g. confidence interval, including degree of confidence; hypothesis tests, including null and alternative hypotheses; level of significance, tests and test statistics). Describe the procedures that were put in place to handle missing values and data, as well as any outliers. Describe the model assumption tests that were performed. Specify the statistical software and the version used in the analysis, and provide in parenthesis the manufacturer of the software, city, and country of origin.
   2. Results Present the results of the main analysis carefully and clearly. Explain how the results address the study objectives. Illustrate the main characteristics of the key variables in tables and/or graphs, if appropriate. Use tables to report summary statistics, summaries of results, or the quantities associated with a p-value. Use appropriate measures of central tendency and spread as summary statistics.
   3. c. Tables, Figures and Illustrations should be incorporated in the body, in the order of their presentation in the text, and should include clear titles and legends. They should not duplicate what is written in the text. organise the data to be presented in the manuscript plan which results answer the questions in the research and which results may be left out all tables (and illustrations) should be cited in the text of the article. Limit the number of tables (and illustrations) to those that provide essential information that could not adequately be presented in the text.
   4. All abbreviations should be spelled out once, specifically when they are mentioned for the first tine in the text, followed by the abbreviations which are enclosed in parentheses. Thereafter, the same abbreviations may be used instead of the long names.
   5. All measurements and weights should be in System International (SI) units.
4. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS should include grant support, technical assistance, advice, referral of patients, review of manuscript, etc. They must be included at the end of the text, just before the References.
5. REFERENCES should be typed single-spaced, in order of presentation in the text, and represented by superscripts in the body. Authors should quote a limited number of relevant and current references. Failure to properly cite a reference for the source of information provided in a manuscript may constitute plagiarism. Authors are responsible for checking that none of the references cited are retracted articles. References to papers that have been accepted and not yet published may be designated as “in press” or “Forthcoming”. Information from manuscripts submitted for publication but not yet accepted may be designated as “unpublished observations”. .

REFERENCE FORMAT

The Vancouver system is required for this journal.

• References are numbered consecutively in the order in which they are quoted in the text.
• The references are identified by Arabic numbers, appearing in the text, usually either in parentheses, e.g. (1, 2), or as superscripts, e.g. 1,2.
• website, URL, publication update, and access date.

BOOK

Starke JR. Infective Endocarditis. Feigin RD, et.al, editors. Textbook of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. 6th edition, Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier; 2009. p.365-369.

ARTICLES in JOURNALS

Ang, JY, Lua JL, Turner DR and Asmar BI. Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus faecium endocarditis in a premature infant successfully treated with Linezolid. Pediatr Infect Dis J 2003; 22:1101-1103.

INTERNET

Abood S. Quality improvement initiative in nursing homes: the ANA acts in an advisory role. Am J Nurs [Internet]. 2002 Jun [cited 2002 Aug 12]; 102(6). Availbale from http://www.nursingworld.org/AJN/2002/june/Wawatch.htmArticle