1. Provide a cover letter.
2. Format: Prepare your manuscript as a Microsoft Word file, use a standard font sized at 12 points, double-space all text, and use 1-inch margins.
3. Length: Confirm that your manuscript meets the relevant length requirements. All word limits exclude abstracts, tables and figures, and references.
4. Order of parts: In the text file, please provide a title page, abstract (if relevant), body text, acknowledgments, references, tables, and legends for figures. Include tables in the MS Word file, but submit each figure as a separate file (see below).
5. Title page: Please specify the title; the names, highest degree(s) earned, and full institutional affiliations for all authors and the contact information (ie, street and e-mail addresses) for the corresponding author. State the word count for the main body of the text.
6. Acknowledgments: Please state sources of financial support and any potential conflicts of interest for each author. If an author has no relevant conflicts, that too should be stated.
7. References: Format them to accord with AMA style. Number them in the order in which they are cited in the text; references cited only in tables or figure legends should be numbered as though cited at the point where the table or figure is first mentioned. Do not use Microsoft Word’s endnote or footnote features to link citations with references.
8. Tables: Prepare tables with the Microsoft Word table editor only. Do not use tabs or hard returns in the table. Please provide a title, state all units explicitly, and define all abbreviations in a note.
9. Figures: Submit figures as digital files. The file format should be TIFF or EPS; high-resolution JPEGs are also permitted. Resolution should be 1,200 dpi for graphs and 600 dpi for grayscale photographs. Each figure must be a separate file named to match its number in the text (eg, fg1.eps). Place titles and legends in the text file, not in the figure file. Label the axes, state all units explicitly, and define all abbreviations.
