Instructions to authors
Article Outline
Note to NIH Grant Recipients: Authors who are accepted for publication in The Journal of Pain after May 2, 2005 may indicate that they wish to meet the NIH request for public access to their manuscript by sending an e-mail to NIHauthorrequest@elsevier.com. Elsevier will subsequently send the author’s manuscript incorporating changes made during the peer review process to PubMed Central and authorize its posting 12 months after final publication.
General information
The Journal of Pain publishes original articles related to all aspects of pain and pain management, and welcomes submissions from clinical and basic researchers, medical specialists, psychologists, nurses, physical therapists, social workers, and workers in related fields. The Journal of Pain is interdisciplinary in focus and committed to advancing knowledge about pain mechanisms and pain management. The Journal will publish reports of original clinical research, reports of original basic research, Focus Articles, Case Reports, and Case Studies in Pain.
Manuscript preparation and submission
Authors must submit manuscripts electronically, uploading documents to the submission website (http://ees.elsevier.com/jpain/). The system will convert documents to .pdf files. Authors are encouraged to submit manuscripts in Microsoft Word.
Text and graphic files should be uploaded to the website separately. Do not import figures into the text file. Name your files using the correct extension, eg, text.doc, fig1a.eps, fig1.tif, tbl1-6.xls, etc.
TIFF and EPS are the preferred formats for artwork. All type fonts used in studio-created artwork must be either “embedded” in the file or supplied separately. All graphic files supplied as bitmap format (not vector format) in TIFF, JPEG or GIF must be submitted in sufficiently high resolution (240-300 dpi for gray-scale or color images and 600-1000 dpi for line art) to allow for printing. See Elsevier’s website for guidelines for preparing electronic artwork: http://www.authors.elsevier.com/artwork
Please follow the instructions below when organizing manuscripts.
Pages should be numbered consecutively, beginning with the title page. Materials should be presented in this order:
Title Page (page 1) — The title should be a concise and informative description of the study. The title page should include the authors’ names, department(s), institution where the work was done, and institutional affiliations of authors. The corresponding author must be clearly identified and phone/fax/e-mail information must be provided. The title page should include a short running title (45 characters, excluding spaces) and up to six key words to be used for indexing.
Abstract (page 2) — An abstract of 200 words or less should describe the purpose of the study, the main findings, and conclusions, all in one paragraph without subheadings. References should not be included in the abstract.
Perspective — This item, limited to 50 words, should appear at the end of the abstract. The perspective presents a synopsis of the work to facilitate understanding of its significance. Authors of basic science reports should highlight the potential clinical relevance of the result in plain terms for the benefit of clinical readers. Authors of clinical science reports should highlight the underlying mechanisms for the results, for the benefit of clinical scientists and basic scientists. Example: “Perspective: This article presents the psychometric properties of a new measure of spouse responses to patient chronic pain and well behavior. This measure could potentially help clinicians who seek to assess how spouse responses may contribute to patient pain and disability.” References should not be included in the perspective.
Text — The text of the article should include the following sections: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion. Subheadings in the Materials and Methods, Results, and Discussion sections should be used as necessary to aid organization and presentation, but subheadings and sections should not be numbered. All sections of the text should be written concisely. Limit the Introduction to 600 words and the Discussion to 1500 words. Articles involving research conducted in human subjects must include a statement in the Materials and Methods, indicating approval by the Institutional Review Board and that informed consent was obtained from each subject. Subjects should be identified only by number, not name or initials. Articles involving research conducted in non-human animals must include a statement in Materials and Methods indicating approval by the Institutional Review Board and that the care and use of animals conformed to applicable national/international guidelines. Footnotes are not permitted in the text. Information must be cited parenthetically, or within the references section.
Acknowledgments — The acknowledgments must follow the Discussion. In this section, all authors should disclose any potential conflicts of interest. This includes honoraria, travel to conferences, consultancies, stock ownership (excluding publicly owned mutual funds), equity interests, and patent-licensing arrangements (particularly if a commercial product is noted in the article), and sources of research support. Support staff may also be recognized in this section.
Figures — All figures must be cited in the text and numbered in order of appearance. Computer-generated figures should use solid fills or cross-hatching, not tonal shading. Figure legends should be presented separately and placed in the manuscript after the list of references. Figure legends should be brief and not repetitive of description in the text. Color figures may be accepted but any cost related to reproduction is the responsibility of the author. However, color figures may be published in the electronic version of The Journal at no cost to the authors. Authors should consult Elsevier’s website for guidelines for preparing electronic artwork: http://www.authors.elsevier.com/artwork
Tables — Tables should be comprehensive without reference to the text and should not be repetitive of descriptions in the text. Every table should consist of two or more columns; tables with only one column will be treated as lists and incorporated into the text. Cite all tables in the text and number them in order of appearance. Explanatory matter and source notations for borrowed or adapted tables should be placed in a table footnote, not in the title or table body.
References — The reference list should appear at the end of the manuscript. The list must be in alphabetical order, according to the surname of the first author. In cases of multiple citations by the same first author, references should be listed by chronological date of publication. In cases of multiple citations by the same first author and different second, third, etc., authors, references should be cited in alphabetical order according to the surname of the second, third, etc., authors. Within the text, papers should be cited using superscript numbers that correspond to the alphabetized reference list as follows: “Similar changes were demonstrated in the cingulated cortex.15” All authors must be listed in the references; the use of et al is not acceptable. Journal abbreviations should conform to the style used in Index Medicus, National Library of Medicine. Unpublished data, personal communications, and abstracts that cannot be retrieved by readers (eg, some meeting abstracts), and other inaccessible materials should not be listed as references. Unpublished materials may be cited parenthetically within the text. For manuscripts containing citations that are in press, authors must have electronic copies immediately available in case reviewers/editors request these materials.
Journal articles
Doe J, Jones S, White K: New directions in pain management. J Pain 1:10-16, 2004
Books
Wall P, Melzack R: Textbook of Pain. Philadelphia, PA, Churchill Livingstone, 1999, pp 253-277
Chapter/article in book
Heinricher M, Morgan M: Supraspinal mechanisms of opioid analgesia, in Stein C (ed): Opioids In Pain Control: Basic and Clinical Aspects. Cambridge, UK, 1999, pp 46-69
For other examples not listed here, please contact The Journal of Pain Editorial Office at j-pain@uiowa.edu, or at (319) 335-7941.
Permissions — To use tables and figures borrowed or adapted from another source, authors must obtain permission from the copyright holder (usually the publisher). Contact Elsevier Rights Department; phone (215) 239-3804; fax (215) 239-3805; e-mail healthpermissions@elsevier.com. This is necessary even if you are the author of the borrowed material. It is essential to begin the process of obtaining permissions early; a delay may require removing the copyrighted material from the article. Give the source of a borrowed table in a footnote to the table; give the source of a borrowed figure in the legend of the figure. The source must also appear in the list of references. Use exact wording required by the copyright holder. Send copies of the letter granting permission, identified by table or figure number, to the Editorial Office. Borrowed materials should also be cited in the references section.
Submission of manuscripts, etc. — Manuscripts must be submitted electronically at http://www.ees.elsevier.com/jpain/.
A Mandatory Submission Form must accompany all submissions. A .pdf version of this form can be obtained at http://www.ees.elsevier.com/jpain/. The form should be downloaded, signed by all authors, and faxed to (312) 275-7776.
Accepted manuscripts — Page proofs will be sent via e-mail as a .pdf file. Authors are asked to return proofs within 48 hours by e-mail or fax. There are no author page charges for The Journal of Pain.
Note to NIH Grant Recipients: Authors who are accepted for publication in The Journal of Pain after May 2, 2005 may indicate that they wish to meet the NIH request for public access to their manuscript by sending an e-mail to NIHauthorrequest@elsevier.com. Elsevier will subsequently send the author’s manuscript incorporating changes made during the peer review process to PubMed Central and authorize its posting 12 months after final publication.
Reprints — For information about reprints, e-mail: authorsupport@elsevier.com.
The Journal of Pain
Department of Pharmacology
The University of Iowa
Bowen Science Building
51 Newton Road
Iowa City, IA 52242
Tel: (319) 335-7941
Fax: (312) 275-7776
Special features
Focus Articles — Focus Articles present a hypothesis or state a position on a basic scientific or clinical topic related to pain. The position may be provocative, but must be based on scientific evidence, and referenced accordingly. These are not intended for the presentation of unpublished data. Authors wishing to submit a Focus Article should contact the editor (j-pain@uiowa.edu). The title/topic of the article, a short outline of proposed content, and intended date of submission should be provided. Focus Articles will undergo the same rigorous review as unsolicited manuscripts of original research. Agreement of the editor to receive and consider an article does not imply acceptance.
The editor may solicit commentaries on Focus Articles. Readers of the Journal are encouraged to write unsolicited commentaries or Letters to the Editor. Commentaries should be limited to less than 2000 words and are subject to editorial review.
Case Studies in Pain — This feature is intended to translate science and clinical expertise through a case study format. A brief case study will describe the clinical course of an individual with a common or complex pain syndrome. Scientists, clinicians, and other professionals with expertise relevant to the case will be invited to provide commentary reflecting their area of interest. The case study author, in consultation with the Associate Editor, will solicit responses; the case studies and responses will be published simultaneously. Guidelines for preparing commentaries will be provided by the Associate Editor.
Individual authors wishing to submit a case report for consideration should propose the title/topic, a brief outline, and names of suggested commentators to Judith A. Paice, Associate Editor for Case Studies in Pain, at j-paice@northwestern.edu. Case studies will undergo peer review; agreement to consider manuscripts does not imply acceptance.
Approved Case Studies and responses must be submitted to The Journal electronically at http://ees.elsevier.com/jpain/.
Letters to the Editor — Letters to the Editor should be single-sided, double-spaced, and limited to 500 words or less. If related to a previously published article, the article should be identified by title, author(s), and volume/page numbers. The letter will be shared with the authors, who will be given the opportunity to respond in writing. All letters are subject to editorial review.
Meeting announcements and press releases are not published in The Journal.
PII: S1526-5900(05)00785-6
doi:10.1016/S1526-5900(05)00785-6
