August 28, 2008

INFORMATION FOR CONTRIBUTORS

Mission of The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry

Established in 1956, The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry (CJP) is the flagship publication of the Canadian Psychiatric Association. Publishing 12 issues a year, The CJP contains peer-reviewed scientific articles related to all aspects of Canadian and international psychiatry.

Types of Manuscripts

The following describes the different types of submissions published in The CJP, including specific requirements for each, such as maximum word counts and numbers of tables and figures. These restrictions are enforced so The CJP can publish as many papers in each issue as possible.

In Review
The Editor-in-Chief invites Guest Editors to take part in the In Review series. Unsolicited manuscripts are not accepted. The In Review series provides an updated and authoritative statement about a specific area of psychiatry. The papers define the issues, identify parameters, provide a brief history highlighting the main research findings and clinical applications, and identify remaining issues and the efforts being made to address them. The Guest Editorial should be 700 to 1500 words. Review papers must not exceed 5000 words (not including structured abstracts, references, tables, and figures) with a maximum of 5 figures and tables in total.

In Debate
The Editor-in-Chief invites authors to take part in the In Debate series to argue the pro and con of a controversial subject. Unsolicited manuscripts are not accepted. Authors are allowed up to 1500 words (not including a maximum of 10 references) to make their case. Once the editorial office receives both submissions, they are given to each author to prepare a 500-word rebuttal.

Original Research and Review Papers
Original research and literature review manuscripts must not exceed 4000 words (not including structured abstracts, references, tables, and figures) with a maximum of 5 figures and tables in total. Appendices may be published in the online version of The CJP if approved by the Editors. The CJP does not publish case reports or papers based entirely on clinical impressions.

Brief Communications
Preliminary reports and secondary studies from previous publications may be accepted as Brief Communications. These will be no more than 1500 words total (not including structured abstracts, references, tables, and figures) with a maximum of 3 figures and tables in total.

Book Reviews
Books of interest to CJP readers include general psychiatry, specific areas of psychiatry and the subspecialties, and other non-fiction works dealing with mental health issues. Some preference is given to Canadian authors and topics relevant to Canadian mental health issues. Book Reviews must be no more than 750 words total (including publication information, body text, and references). Tables and figures are not accepted in book reviews.

Direct quotes from the book should include page number in the reference.

Authors must indicate in the review if they have any personal ties to the author(s), editor(s), or publisher.

Letters to the Editor
Letters to the Editor must be no more than 500 words (including references). Tables and figures are not accepted. Letters to the Editor will only be accepted when they respond to published articles in The CJP. Case reports are not accepted as Letters to the Editor.

Preparing the Manuscript

The CJP style is based on Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers, 7th edition, prepared by the Council of Science Editors, with some exceptions. Manuscript requirements are also based on Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (see http://www.icmje.org/icmje.pdf) prepared by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. The CJP also uses Canadian spellings as found in The Canadian Oxford Dictionary.

Avoid unnecessary formatting of text as it will be removed. Automatic endnote and footnote functions are not acceptable. Text should be upper and lower case and have no paragraph indents. All 4 margins of the 8.5 x 11 paper should be 1.5 inches with each page numbered. Arrange the parts of the manuscript in the following order, with each item beginning a new page:
1. Title Page
2. Structured Abstract, Clinical Implications and Limitations, and Key Words
3. Body Text
4. Funding and Support and Acknowledgements
5. References
6. Tables and Figures

1. Title Page
Make the title as brief and informative as possible without using acronyms.

Limit authors listed in the byline to those who substantially contributed to the concept and design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data as well as drafted or critically revised the article for important intellectual content and approved final version for publication. Acknowledge collaborators in the Acknowledgement section. Include the full names of each author (first names are preferred to initials). Provide degrees as well as professional, academic, and financial affiliations of each author. Include the full address, telephone numbers, fax number, and e-mail address of the corresponding author.

If the paper has been presented at a meeting, provide the name, place, and date of the meeting.

Include separate word counts for the abstract and body text, but not for the tables, figures, and references.

2. Abstract, Clinical Implications and Limitations, and Key Words
Abstracts must not be more than 250 words and should be structured under the following headings: Objective, Method, Results, and Conclusions. If applicable, the clinical trial registration number should appear at the end of the abstract (see Clinical Trial Registration below). The CJP translates the abstract into the alternate language (French or English).

Provide bullets for 3 clinical implications and 3 limitations of the study. These should be short sentences (less than 20 words each) that do not repeat the results, but rather put the results into context so psychiatrists can apply the information in their practice or research.

Include 3 to 10 key words or short phrases for indexing purposes.

3. Body Text
Refer to the type of submission for the maximum word counts allowed for each.

Following the introduction and background information, the body of the manuscript should be arranged under the headings Method, Results, Discussion, and Conclusions.

The Method section should state whether the research received approval from an institution’s ethics approval committee and whether written informed consent was obtained from the patients. Any statistical methodology that was used, including software, must be referenced. Review papers should briefly state the systematic approach to the literature review (what key word searches were used on what databases for what period of time, how many files were found, and how the number of studies was reduced to what was used).

4. Funding and Support and Acknowledgements
Under the heading Funding and Support, authors must disclose any potential or perceived conflict of interest with the producers of any products mentioned in the article or any competing company. Conflicts of interest can include, but are not limited to: ownership of stocks, stock options, or other financial instruments; receipt of consulting fees; employment; honorarium or other fee for writing the article or conducting similar research; speakers fees; educational grants; or travel assistance over the previous 24 months. All sources of funding and support for the research described in the manuscript should be included. For grant support, please include the full name of the granting agency and the grant number.

Under the heading Acknowledgements, do not exceed 4 typed lines for individuals involved with specific content of the work but who do not qualify as authors.

5. References
Accuracy of citations, exact spelling, accents, and punctuation of the original reference is the author’s responsibility.

The CJP follows a citation sequence referencing style based on that recommended in Scientific Style and Format: The CSE Manual for Authors, Editors, and Publishers. 7th ed. For complete details, refer to Chapter 29 of that publication.

Number references and list them in the order of their first appearance in the text. Use the same reference number when repeating the reference. Follow the citation in the text with the appropriate reference number in superscript.

In the reference list, do not include personal communications, unpublished manuscripts, or manuscripts submitted but not yet accepted for publication. Note these citations parenthetically in the text as follows: (name, date, and personal communication) or (unpublished observation). Accepted, but as-yet unpublished, manuscripts may be cited in the reference list as “forthcoming��?: include the journal title (or book publisher and location) and tentative print date.

Type references in the style below, noting punctuation, capitalization, and use of en-dash for page ranges. References that do not conform to CJP style will be returned to the corresponding author for appropriate adjustment.

• List up to 3 authors. For more than 3, list the first 3 authors, followed by “et al.��?
• Note punctuation conventions with author names (for example, Doe J, not Doe, J).
• Place book and article titles in sentence case, capitalizing only the first word, acronyms, and proper nouns.
• Use Index Medicus abbreviations but do not abbreviate journals that are not included in Index Medicus.
• Do not italicize titles.
• When citing journal articles, do not include a space after colons and semicolons.
• Separate page ranges with an en-dash and do not omit any digits of the closing page number.

Standard Journal Article Style and Sample
1. Author(s). Title. Journal title. Year;volume:page range.
1. Stip E, Fahim C, Liddle P, et al. Neural correlates of sad feelings in schizophrenia with and without blunted affect. Can J Psychiatry. 2005;50:909–917.

Book Chapter Style and Sample
2. Author(s). Chapter title. In: editor(s) name(s), editor. Book title. Place Published: Publisher; Year published. Page range.
2. Flach F. The resilience hypothesis and post traumatic disorder. In: Wolf ME, Mosnaim AD, editors. Post-traumatic stress disorder: etiology, phenomenology, and treatment. Washington (DC): American Psychiatric Press; 1990. p 37–45.

Conference Presentation Style and Sample
3. Author(s). Title. Paper presented at (name of conference); inclusive conference dates; place of conference.
3. Labrie F. Androgen deficiency syndrome in women: role of androgens and their precursor DHEA in women. Paper presented at the Female Sexual Function Forum; 2001 October; Boston (MA).

Web Page Style and Sample
4. Author(s). Page title. Organization [date cited]. Available from: URL.
4. Streiner DL. Meta-analysis: a 12-step program. Electronic J Gambling Issues [cited 2005 Oct 7]. Available from: http://www.camh.net/egambling/issue9/feature/.

6. Tables and Figures
Tables and figures should complement text, not duplicate it, and should be understandable without reference to the text. Keep the number of tables to a minimum, using them to present relevant numerical data. Short tables can frequently be incorporated more concisely in the text. Full pages of tables and figures will not be published. Authors should communicate this information in the text.

Include a descriptive title. Specify units of measurement for each table and figure.

Figures and charts must be submitted in the program with which they were originally created (for example, Excel, PowerPoint, Work, Corel Draw, PhotoPaint, or PhotoShop). Other acceptable formats are eps, tif (without text), jpg, and gif, all of which should be 300 dpi. Note: The CJP is produced in an IBM-compatible environment.

Tables and figures will be edited to conform to CJP style.

Clinical Trial Registration

The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors defines clinical trials as research projects that prospectively assign human subjects to intervention or concurrent comparison or control groups to study the cause-and-effect relation between a medical intervention (drug, surgical procedure, device, behavioural treatment, etc.) and a health outcome. To be considered for publication in The CJP, clinical trials must be registered at or before the onset of patient enrolment. The registry must meet several criteria as specified at an April 2005 meeting convened by the WHO. Criteria include:
• being accessible to the public at no charge;
• being open to all prospective registrants;
• being managed by a not-for-profit organization;
• having a mechanism to ensure the validity of the registration data;
• being electronically searchable; and
• having specific data elements:
-- unique trial number
-- trial registration date
-- secondary IDs
-- funding source(s)
-- primary sponsor
-- secondary sponsor(s)
-- contact person
-- official scientific title of study
-- research ethics review
-- condition
-- intervention
-- key inclusion and exclusion criteria
-- study type
-- expected trial start date
-- target sample size
-- recruitment status
-- primary outcome
-- key secondary outcomes

Registries such as http://www.ClinicalTrials.gov and http://www.Controlled-Trials.com are acceptable, but others may exist. No one particular registry is preferred. Trial registration with missing fields or fields containing uninformative terminology is not acceptable. This policy applies to any clinical trial starting enrolment after June 1, 2006. For trials that began enrolment before that date, registration will be required by September 1, 2006.

Manuscripts reporting on randomized controlled trials must follow the Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials (CONSORT) checklist, which has been endorsed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, the World Association of Medical Editors, and the Council of Science Editors (see http://www.consort-statement.org). A CONSORT flow diagram should be included as a figure illustrating the progress of all patients in the study through the trial.

Manuscript Submission and Processing

The CJP has a rapid-publication policy and has implemented Manuscript Central as its web-based manuscript submission and peer review processing system. Manuscripts can be submitted by going to http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/cjp and logging in or creating an account. The website has helpful instructions, tutorials, and technical support to assist authors in uploading their manuscripts. The CJP no longer accepts manuscript submissions by mail or email. All submissions must go through Manuscript Central, with the exception of solicited manuscripts (that is, In Review and In Debate articles), which should be emailed to the Managing Editor for faster processing. Book Reviews, also solicited, should be emailed to CJP@cpa-apc.org.

Authors will be notified by email of successful receipt of their manuscripts and of the tracking numbers assigned to them. This number must be included in all correspondence. Authors are responsible for keeping their contact information up to date in Manuscript Central. This includes email and mailing addresses as well as phone and fax numbers.

All manuscripts are reviewed to determine the originality, validity, and importance of content and conclusions. Authors may suggest possible peer reviewers for their manuscripts. The CJP is not obligated to follow the suggestion. Authors will be provided with anonymous peer reviewers’ comments to make necessary revisions before the manuscript can be accepted for publication. The authors will be informed of the final decision of the Editor-in-Chief.

Revised manuscripts, including tables and figures, are accepted with the understanding that they will be edited for conciseness, clarity, and conformity with CJP style. Copyedited manuscript and page proofs will be sent to the corresponding author for corrections, answers to queries, and approval.

Copyright

Authors must comply with international copyright laws and obtain all necessary rights and permissions to reprint material, including entire tables and figures, from secondary sources. A copy of such permission(s) must be included with the manuscript submission.

For all published manuscripts, The CJP requires transfer of copyright to the Canadian Psychiatric Association so the author(s) and the Association are protected from misuse of copyrighted material. A copyright transfer form will be sent to the corresponding author when the manuscript has received final acceptance for publicaton. All coauthors are required to print, sign, and return the copyright release form to the Editorial Office. If the copyright release forms are not received from each coauthor, publication of the manuscript may be delayed.

Permission to Reproduce

Written permission to reprint material published in The CJP must be secured from:
The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry
141 Laurier Avenue West, Suite 701
Ottawa, ON K1P 5J3
cjp@cpa-apc.org

Reprints

Reprints are provided for a fee. An order form for reprints will be sent to the corresponding author before publication of the paper. The reprints will be mailed about 2 weeks after the article has been published.

Media Release

The CPA has received increasing numbers of media inquiries. To meet these requests quickly, authors are asked to designate a spokesperson and permit the CPA to release that person’s telephone number and e-mail address to the media if requested.

Questions

For further information, contact The CJP editorial office at (613) 234-2815 ext 230 or cjp@cpa-apc.org.

For technical support for Manuscript Central, contact ScholarOne at (434) 817-2040 ext. 167 or Support@ScholarOne.com

STYLE NOTES

General

Abbreviations and Acronyms
Do not use periods or spaces with abbreviations and acronyms or after the initials of a person’s name or academic degrees. Except for common abbreviations most readers are familiar with (such as DSM, ICD, US, UK, WHO, HIV, AIDS, units of measurement, etc.), spell out the term in full on first reference followed by the acronym in parenthesis.

Prefixes
Do not hyphenate most prefixes, even if this means that 2 vowels will occur together (for example, metaanalysis). However, use a hyphen with the prefix quasi-, compounds starting with self, and prefixes attached to capitalized words (e.g., non-European).

Sensitive Language

Research subjects and those with mental disorders are unique individuals, some of whom have illnesses. Avoid terms with negative connotations. Do not write manic depressive, schizophrenic treatment programs, controls, or the like. Instead, write people with major depressive disorder, treatment programs for people with schizophrenia, and control subjects. Use “case��? to mean instance or example and patient to mean person (e.g., “We saw 12 patients��? not “cases��?).

Race and Ethnicity
Ethnicity distinguishes people by cultural characteristics while race distinguishes by similar visible physical characteristics and does not have a precise biological definition. Whenever possible, use more sharply definable criteria such as nationality or country/continent of origin.

Sex or Gender
Sex refers to the biological state of being male or female. Gender refers to the social, economic, and cultural characteristics of man and woman. CJP style uses the term sex unless it is clear that a socially defined role is being discussed (for example, gender identity disorder).

Male and female are categories of biological sex and are terms normally applied to animals. Use men and women wherever possible. If a group of patients includes both adults and children, subjects can be called male patients and female patients (not males and females).

Symbols, Formulas, and Equations

In general, use symbols in equations and formulas, but write terms in full in running text.

Parentheses, Brackets, and Braces
CJP style uses the order of ([{}]). For example, total scores (t[161] = 5.61, P < 0.001).

Confidence Interval (CI)
Numeric limits represented by a CI should be connected by the word to rather than en-dash. Do not use an equal sign (for example, 95%CI, 15 to 20, not 95% CI = 15-20). All point estimates (e.g., mean, odds ratios, relative risk, etc.) should be reported with CIs.

En-Dash
In text, CJP style uses the connective “to��? when linking ranges to avoid possible ambiguity with the minus symbol (for example “with temperatures of –5 to 25 C��?, not –5–25 C).

Numbers
Most numbers are expressed in numerals. Only write out numbers when:
• beginning a sentence
• reporting consecutive numerical expressions in which 2 classes of numbers must be differentiated (for example, five 72-kg men, not 5, 72-kg men)
• reporting large numbers in general expressions (for example, a hundred, several thousand)
• using in a general, nonnumeric way (for example, “one of the many reasons��?)
• reporting the whole numbers zero and one not connected to a unit of measure

Ordinal numbers are treated in the same manner as cardinal numbers: they are expressed as numerals (for example, 2nd, not second.) Do not superscript the suffix.

Use the term “to��? rather than a hyphen or en-dash to report a range of numbers (for example, 2 to 5 kg, not 2-5 kg).

Use a colon for exact ratios, not if the ratio is inexact (for example, The ratio of men to women was 3:4).

Operators
Operators have a space before and after them (for example, n = 246).

P Values
Present the symbol P upper case and in italic type. Use a zero before the decimal place. A P value should be shown to 2 decimal places unless it is less than 0.01, in which case, it should be shown to 3 decimal places (for example, P = 0.002). P cannot equal 0 or 1. Do not write P = 0.000. For very small values, use P < 0.001.

P values should never appear alone. They must always be accompanied by the value of the statistical test and (when appropriate) the degrees of freedom (for example, t[23] = 6.25, P < 0.001).

Do not use asterisks to indicate footnotes in tables that contain probability levels (for example, *P < 0.05; **P < 0.01; ***P < 0.001). Exact P values are preferred.

Spaces with Units of Measurement
Include a space between the numeral and its unit of measurement (for example, 136 mm Hg).

Standard Deviation (SD)
CJP style presents standard deviation as SD 4.6, not SD = 4.6 or SD ± 4.6.