Guidance for Authors
Presentation
Please read the following section carefully
Manuscript on disk
The College can accept 3.5" disks in a format compatible with Word
97. Three hard copies of the manuscript should still be sent with
the disk, printed directly from the submitted disk to ensure that
the two are identical.
Hard copies
Manuscripts should be presented on A4 white paper with double
spacing and wide margins, printed on one side of the paper only.
The title page, text, acknowledgements, reference list, tables,
figures and appendices should all begin on a new page. The legends
for figures/illustrations should be listed on a separate sheet. All
the pages should be numbered consecutively.
Title page
The title page should give the title of the
submission and the following information for each author: name in
the author’s preferred form; academic qualifications; designation;
name and address for correspondence.
Text
The text should be written as clearly and
concisely as possible. Important statements or facts that are not
universally known must be referenced so that readers can refer to
the source if they wish (for style, see under References‚
below).
Names of drugs should be used with initial
letter in lower case [proprietary names may follow in brackets with
an initial capital letter e.g. paracetamol (Calpol)].
Abbreviations should be in full for the first
mention, except those in common use such as NHS, GP, or UK, or
acronyms such as WONCA.
‘s’ spellings should be used (e.g.
organisation, realise).
Statistics
Although the paper will automatically be sub-edited for house
JUSTIFY">Numerals up to and including ten should be spelt out
(except percentages), those from 11 upwards given in figures
(except approximations, e.g. nearly a hundred).
The % sign can be used in both text and
tables.
Headings
The exact style of headings does not matter as long as they are
consistent and the relationship between them is clear. Not more
than four levels of heading should be used.
Citations
All tables, figures and appendices should be cited in the text and
numbered consecutively in the order in which they appear.
References
The Vancouver system is used, whereby references are cited
numerically in the text and in the reference list; e.g.
Williams
17.
If the author wishes to mention works other
than those cited in the text, these should be listed at the end,
alphabetically by author, under the heading, ‘Further
reading’.
Punctuation should be followed as closely as
possible, as illustrated below.
- Single author: Fowler G. Practising prevention - what does it
mean? BMJ 1982; 284: 945-946.
- Two authors: Ofman JJ, Rabeneck L. The effectiveness of
endoscopy in the management of dyspepsia: a qualitative systematic
review. Am J Med 1999; 106: 335-346.
- Three authors: Murray L, Cooper PJ, Stein A. Postnatal
depression and infant development. BMJ 1991;
302: 978-979.
- Four authors: O’Reilly D, Stevenson M, McCay C, Jamison J.
General practice out-of-hours service, variations in use and
equality in access to a doctor: a cross-sectional study. Br J
Gen Pract 2001; 51: 625-629.
- More than four authors: Quartero AO, de Wit NJ, Lodder AC,
et al. Disturbed solid-phase gastric emptying in
functional dyspepsia: a meta-analysis. Dig Dis Sci 1998;
43: 2028-2033.
- Editorials (unsigned): Lancet. Monopoly of middle-aged
men. [Editorial.] 1991; 337: 1007-1008.
- Books: Townsend P, Philimore P, Beattie A. Health and
deprivation: inequalities and the north. London: Croom Helm,
1988.
Please do not list references as footnotes in
Word.
Tables and figuresThere is often confusion between tables and
figures. Tables contain numerals and/or words only; figures
comprise some form of drawing; e.g. graphs, bar charts, diagrams.
Each table and figure should have its own heading. Points to note:
Whenever percentages are used, the base number must be shown,
usually as n =. No vertical rules should be used. Superscript
letters indicating footnotes should be used; e.g. 175a. Sources for
data reproduced from other publications should be given in full.
Boxes usually contain only text; e.g. bullet points.
IllustrationsAny queries should be directed to the
Publishing Department .
Indexes
It is up to
the author/editor as to whether an index is provided. If not, and
one is required, the Publishing Department will find a suitable
indexer.