Instructions to Authors (printable file)

Nutritional Therapy & Metabolism, the official journal of the Italian Society of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (SINPE) considers for publication original scientific communications (clinical and experimental) in the field of nutrition, artificial nutrition and metabolism. 
Papers, written in English language, may be submitted as reviews or editorials (by invitation), original articles, educational papers, short communications, case reports and letters to the editor.
The Instructions to Authors are in accordance with the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (Vancouver Style) (N Engl J Med 1997; 336: 309-15 and BMJ 1991; 302: 338-41) developed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.
All manuscripts are submitted to editorial review. Authors in need of editorial assistance (eg, suggestions on methodology, advice on statistics, preliminary review of manuscript) prior to submission are invited to contact the Editorial Secretariat “SOS-MANOSCRITTO” on the SINPE website, www.sinpe.it.
Papers describing research involving human and animal subjects should indicate that informed consent was obtained from patients and that the experiments were carried out in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975 or with the International Guiding Principles for Biomedical Research Involving Animals (RINPE 1995; 13 (1): 91-3).
The first named author is responsible for ensuring that all authors have seen and approved the manuscript with the understanding that it has not been published, simultaneously submitted or already accepted for publication elsewhere.
When accepted, all material submitted for publication becomes the property of Nutritional Therapy & Metabolism and cannot be reproduced without the written permission of the Editor.

Electronic submission of manuscripts is required. Manuscripts should be sent to:

Prof. Francesco William Guglielmi, 
Direttore Unità Operativa di Gastroenterologia e Nutrizione Artificiale, 
Presidio Ospedaliero Trani, AUSL BAT, 
Ospedale “San Nicola Pellegrino”, 
Viale Padre Pio, 
70059 Trani (Bari) - Italy, 
Tel. 0883 483209; Fax 0883 483342, 
e-mail: guglielmifw@libero.it 

and to Editor’s Secretarial Assistance of Nutritional Therapy & Metabolism as an attachment to the e-mail submission letter to the following addresses: 
william@gastro.uniba.it; guglielmifw@libero.it; rinpe.sinpe@gmail.com

Conflict of interest
Authors of research articles should disclose at the time of submission any financial arrangement they may have with a company whose product is pertinent to the submitted manuscript or with a company making a competing product. Such information will be held in confidence while the paper is under review and will not influence the editorial decision, but if the article is accepted for publication, a disclosure will appear with the article.
Because the essence of reviews and editorials is selection and interpretation of the literature, Nutritional Therapy & Metabolism expects that authors of such articles will not have any significant financial interest in a company (or its competitor) that makes a product discussed in the article.

Preparation of manuscripts
Type manuscripts in WORD or RTF format with an A4 (21.0x29.7 cm) dimension. Use double spacing with margins of at least 2.5 cm. Begin each of the following sections on separate pages: title page, abstract and key words, text, acknowledgements, references, tables, illustrations, legends. Number pages consecutively. Authors should keep copies of everything submitted.

Title page
The title page should contain: a) the title of the article; b) a short running head of no more than 75 characters; c) the name and initials of each author; d) the department(s) and institution(s) to which the work should be attributed; e) the source(s) of financial support; f) the name, address, telephone and fax numbers and e-mail address of the author responsible for correspondence.
Abstract and key words
Abstracts of no more than 150 words should be structured, ie, written in note form under the following subheadings, each one starting on a separate line: Objective, Design, Materials or Patients, Methods, Results, Conclusion. Abbreviations should not be used.
Below the abstract a maximum of six key words should be given, using terms from the Medical Subjects Heading List of the Index Medicus.
An Italian long version (250 words) of the Abstracts should be included.

Text
The text of original scientific reports should not exceed a total of 12 pages, including references, and is usually divided into the following headings:

1. Introduction - Clearly state the purpose of the article. Summarize the rationale for the study or observation. Give only strictly pertinent references and do not review the subjects extensively.
2. Patients (or materials) and methods - Describe clearly your selection of the observational or experimental patients (or animals) and controls. Identify the methods and procedures in sufficient detail to allow other workers to reproduce the results. Give references to established methods, including statistical methods. Do not use patients’ names, only initials if necessary.
3. Results - Present your results in a logical sequence in the text, in tables and illustrations. Do not repeat in this section all the data shown in the tables and illustrations.
4. Discussion - Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study. Include the clinical implications of the findings and their limitations and relate the observations to other relevant studies. Do not repeat data given in the Results section.
5. Conclusion - Link the conclusions with the goals of the study but avoid unqualified statements and conclusions not completely supported by your data. Avoid referring to work that has not been completed. Formulate new hypotheses when warranted, bur clearly label them as such. Recommendations, when appropriate, may be included.
6. Acknowledgements - Acknowledge only persons who have made substantial contributions to the study. Use only approved abbreviations and measures according to the International System of Units (SI) (see RINPE Vol. 1, 1995, pp. 94-5). Acknowledge the original source of data already published, and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the material.

Short Communications and Case Reports must be limited to six double-spaced typed pages including figures (max. 2) and references.

References
Number references with Arabic numerals (in parentheses) in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. Use the form of references adopted by the U.S. National Library of Medicine and used in the Index Medicus. Titles of journals should be abbreviated according to the style used in the List of Journals Indexed, printed annually in the January issue of Index Medicus. Examples:

1. Standard journal article - List all authors when six or less; when seven or more, list only the first three and add et al. You CH, Lee KY, Chey WY, et al. Electrographic study of patients with unexplained nausea, bloating and vomiting. Gastroenterology 1980; 79: 311-4.

2. Monographs - Eisen HN. Immunology: an introduction to molecular and cellular principles of the immune response; 5th ed. New York: Harper and Row, 1974: 406.

3. Proceedings of meetings - Du Pont B. Bone marrow transplantation in severe combined immunodeficiency with an unrelated MLC compatible donor. In: White JH, Smith R, eds. Proceedings of the third annual meeting of the International Society for Experimental Hematology. 1974: 44-6.

4. Chapter in book - De Meester TR. Gastroesophageal reflux disease. In: Moody FG, Carey LC, Scott Jone R, et al, eds. Surgical treatment of digestive diseases. Chicago: Year Book Medical Publishers, 1986; 132-58.

Tables
Type each table (with double spacing) on a separate sheet. Tables (Tab.) should be numbered consecutively with Roman numerals in the order of first mention in the text and should have a brief title. Define all abbreviations in a footnote using the following symbols in this sequence:*,•,=,**,••,==.... Limit the number of tables to a minimum.

Illustrations
Inclusion of illustrations is strongly encouraged. Figures (Fig.) should be professionally drawn and progressively numbered with Arabic numerals. Instead of original drawings, send three copies of sharp, glossy black-and-white photographic prints (13x18 cm). Each figure should have a label pasted on its back indicating the number, title of the article, the name of the first author, and the top. Graphs (3 copies) may be printed (laser) on A4 paper. Letters, numbers and symbols should be clear and of sufficient size that, when reduced for publication, each item will be legible. Figures must be explained in double-spaced legends on a separate sheet. Titles and detailed explanations also belong in the legends.
If a figure has been published before, acknowledge the original source and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the material.

The opinions expressed in this journal are the authors’ own and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the publishers.

COMMONLY USED APPROVED ABBREVIATIONS