No more than 5 tables and/or figures are permitted for original articles and issue briefs, and no more than 3 are permitted for invited commentaries. No tables or figures are permitted for sidebars.
Interpretations of data and extensive discussions of methods should be inserted in the body text, rather than in tables and figures. Color figures and extensively long tables and figures will appear only in the electronic edition of the journal.
TABLES
Formatting: Tables should be prepared using roman font; italics and boldface are not permitted. Do not use tabs or hard returns. Submit each table on a separate page at the end of the manuscript. Tables should be prepared with the Microsoft Word table editor only.
Numbering: Tables are cited in numerical order in the text, using arabic numbers.
Titles: Titles should be brief and, in articles with more than one table, unique. Explanatory material should be moved to a note below the table.
Column headings: Headings should be brief and describe all contents in their column(s). The text should be bottom and center aligned. Headings should contain any necessary symbols (eg, “%” or “$”) or measurement abbreviations (eg, “cm,” “no.,” or “95% CI”) that apply to the data in the column below. Any measurement abbreviations should conform to American Medical Association style. Headings may have several levels, with horizontal rules separating the levels.
Lines: Only horizontal lines are allowed; no vertical lines, boxes, or other lines may be used. All tables should have the following 3 horizontal lines: one under the title, above the column headings; one between the column headings and the body of the table; and one at the bottom of the table.
Stub column (the left-most column): Entries and subentries should be as brief and confined to a single column. The text should be bottom and left aligned Use indentation rather than typographic devices to distinguish the hierarchy of the entries and subentries. Data in columns to the right of the stub column should be in the same row as the stub column entry.
Table body: The body of the table should be free of symbols or measurement abbreviations; symbols should appear in the column head when they apply to all values in the column, or in the stub column when they apply to all values in the row. The text should be top and center aligned.
Notes and footnotes: Notes contain useful information, such as definitions of abbreviations, that apply to the entire table. One note is permitted per table. It is not numbered, and the singular “note” is used, even if the note contains multiple pieces of information.
The content of footnotes apply to designated parts of the table. Footnote callouts are labelled with superscripted letters (beginning with “a”) and should be arranged in the body of the table from left to right, top to bottom, as if reading a text. Every callout in the table should have a corresponding footnote.
Notes are placed beneath the table, and footnotes are placed below the note. All notes and footnotes end with a period, even if they are not complete sentences.
FIGURES
Numbering: Figures are cited in numerical order in the text, using arabic numbers.
Formatting: Figure files should be in EPS or TIFF format, with a resolution of 1,200 dpi for graphs and 600 dpi for grayscale photographs. EPS files saved by a commercial-quality graphic program (such as Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, or Kaleidagraph) are generally the most reliable. Authors should avoid using applications that cannot save directly in EPS or TIFF format.
Each figure must be a separate file. If you have a multipart figure, please send it as a single file, with panels labeled within the image, rather than as multiple files. However, if necessary you may transmit each part of the figure separately, along with a README file describing how they should be laid out. If a figure is assembled from multiple images, the images must be embedded in the file, not linked.
All figures will be printed in black and white and should therefore not require color to distinguish elements. Figures in which color plays an integral role will appear only in the online edition of the NCMJ.
Of note, the JPEG file format uses a “lossy” compression that, depending on the setting, will render a file unsuitable for print standards. If at all possible please avoid transmitting electronic files in JPEG format. If this is unavoidable please be sure to save the JPEG at the highest quality available and at the correct resolution for the type of artwork it is (see above).
Unacceptable artwork types: PowerPoint, Excel, Word, or WordPerfect yield low-resolution images that are not suitable for professional reproduction. Graphics downloaded from Internet pages are not acceptable for print reproduction. These graphics are low-resolution images (usually 72 dpi), which are suitable for screen display but are far below acceptable standards for print reproduction.
Labeling: Each figure should 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. Each chart or graph should incorporate a key to any symbols or colors used. Please set the key inside the figure when possible. Figures consisting of more than one panel should include uppercase panel designations (eg, “A,” “B,” and “C”). Whenever possible, include all panels of a figure on the same page.
Please use sans serif fonts, such as Arial and Helvetica. All fonts must be embedded in your figures, or all font type must be converted to outlines (applications such as Adobe Illustrator can do this). Please be consistent with type (both font and size) within a figure. Since most figures are reduced, figures employing more than one font size may, after reduction, contain both text that is too small to read and text that is so large as to be awkward.
Please avoid placing labels over shaded areas of a figure. Best results are obtained from black lettering on a white background. If the area requiring a label contains shading, it is best to create a white box and place the black label within.
All graphs and plots should include axis lines at the top, bottom, right, and left sides of the data, forming a completely enclosed box. This will allow for easier interpretation by the reader. Figures should not include text along the top axis outside of the box, except for axis labels. Any information about the figure should be contained within the figure legend or in the labels that appear inside the box.
Omit any extraneous information, such as page numbers, figure numbers, and author names, from the figure. Figures themselves should not contain a title or text that is duplicated in the figure legend. Figure legends should be included separately with the manuscript.
Copyright: If the artwork you are transmitting has been published elsewhere or is otherwise copyrighted, you must provide a letter of permission from the copyright holder. The permission letter should grant worldwide print and electronic reproduction rights, in perpetuity. Permission grants that restrict reproduction to the print edition or that require later renewal are not acceptable. In addition, if the artwork is not your own, we will need information about its source. Copyright and source information should be included in the figure legend.
