Reply letter to Author(s)

Dear Researcher,

the submitted manuscript has not fully followed the ActaBiomed guidelines. This does not preclude resubmission of a corrected manuscript and editorial decision. The Authors are encouraged to resubmit within 15 days a new updated version.

1. Cover Letter to Editor-in - Chief

A cover letter must be included with each manuscript submission. It should be concise and explain why the content of the paper is significant, placing the findings in the context of existing work. It should explain why the manuscript fits the scope of the journal.

Moreover, the cover letter must include the statement:

• We confirm that neither the manuscript nor any parts of its content are currently under consideration or published in another journal.
• All authors have approved the manuscript and agree with its submission to  Acta Biomedica.

2. Manuscript

Please note that the manuscript must include:

- abstract (not more than 250 words);

- key words (5-7 key words that will assist indexers in cross-indexing the article);

- a running title of no more than 40 characters;
- total text word count and abstract word count:

- tables and figures with legends.

3. Ethics Committee

Research involving human subjects, human material, or human data, must have been performed in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki and must have been approved by an Ethics Committee, sometimes referred to as an Institutional Review Board (IRB). A statement detailing this, including the name of the Ethics Committee, the reference number and date of approval.

If a retrospective (“non-interventional”) study has been granted an exemption from requiring ethics approval, this should also be detailed in the manuscript.

4. Case report

For all research involving human subjects, informed consent to participate in the study should be obtained from participants (or their parent or guardian in the case of children under 18 years) and a statement to this effect should appear in the manuscript. The Ethical Committee approval is needed including the reference number and date of approval.

Details that might disclose the identity of the subjects under the study should be omitted. In any case, a document enclosing the patient’s agreement to publish all the necessary information must be obtained and, if possible, the patient should be allowed to read the case report final draft, before submission to approve or disapprove.

If the participant has died, then consent for publication must be sought from the next of kin of the participant. This documentation must be made available to Editors on request, and will be treated confidentially.

5. Images of patients

Images of patients or research subjects should not be used unless the information is essential for scientific purposes. The most widely used technique is to print a black bar over the eyes or, more recently, to blur or pixelate the eye area. Written informed consent for publication must be obtained from the patient. This documentation must be made available to Editors on request, and will be treated confidentially.

Formal consents are not required for the use of entirely anonymized images from which the individual cannot be identified- for example, x-rays, ultrasound images, pathology slides, or laparoscopic images, provided that these do not contain any identifying marks and are not accompanied by text that might identify the individual concerned.

6. Third-party permission

Image files must not be manipulated or adjusted in any way that could lead to misinterpretation of the information provided by the original image.  Please report fully the Authors' names and Journal reference in the didascaly of figure(s), diagram(s), etc., with  their permission.  Once obtained, documents certifying the permission to use third-party content should be sent to: valeriaceci@mattiolihealth.com  for archiving purposes.

7. References

The recommended style for references should be mainly based on the National Information Standards Organization NISO Z39.29-2005 (R2010) Bibliographic References as adapted by the National Library of Medicine for its databases.
- If there are more than 6 authors, list the first 3 authors, followed by et al.

Examples:

Standard journal articles

- Rizzato G, Marazzini L. Thoracoabdominal mechanics in elderly men. J Appl Physiol 1970; 28: 457-60.

Chapter in a book

-Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human solid tumors. In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, editors. The genetic basis of human cancer. New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002. p. 93-113.

The preferred citation style for an electronic journal uses a DOI (digital object identifier)

Morrison G, Van Langenberg DR, Gibson SJ, Gibson PR. Chronic pain in inflammatory bowel disease: characteristics and associations of a hospital-based cohort. Inflamm Bowel Dis 2013;19:1210-7. doi:10.1097/MIB. 0b013e318280e729.

Additional abbreviations

can be searched in the PubMed Journal Database (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/nlmcatalog/journals).

8. Conflict of interest statement

If no conflict of interest exists the corresponding Author should type: "Each author declares that he or she has no commercial associations (e.g. consultancies, stock ownership, equity interest, patent/licensing arrangement etc.) that might pose a conflict of interest in connection with the submitted article"

9. Language

Manuscripts must be written in English. If English is not the author's mother tongue, we recommend that the paper be proofread to ensure its accuracy and improve the language quality.The publisher can provide a copy-editing service for an additional payment.

10. Author contributions

To qualify for authorship, all contributors must meet at least one of the seven core contributions (conceptualization, methodology, software, validation, formal analysis, investigation, data curation), as well as at least one of the writing contributions (original draft preparation, review and editing). Authors may also satisfy the other remaining contributions; however, these alone will not qualify them for authorship.

Contributions will be published with the final article, and they should accurately reflect contributions to the work. The corresponding author is responsible for completing this information at full submission, and we expect that all authors will have reviewed, discussed, and agreed to their individual contributions ahead of this time.