INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS

Editorial policies

Features of Dermatology Online Journal

• Continuing Medical Education: Substantial educational articles presenting core information for the continuing medical education of the practicing dermatologist.
• Therapy: In-depth critical reviews of a therapeutic modality or treatment procedure.
• Clinical and Laboratory Studies: Original, in-depth clinical and investigative laboratory research articles.
• Photo-essay: Demonstrations of information with the use of images. Images are probably much better than words in the demonstration of subtle clinical findings.
• Articles relevant to the use of computers and the Internet in continuing medical education, or in the practice of medicine/dermatology.
• Case Reports: Brief individual case reports of unusual interest.
• Commentaries: Discussions of note on topics of interest to the teaching and practice of dermatology
• Editorials: Brief, substantiated commentary on subjects of topical interest.
• New Reports: Information of use of inteest to the dermatologic community
• Correspondence: Brief letters to the Editor that comment on previous articles. Computers and Medicine:
• Book Reviews: Books and monographs will be reviewed depending on their interest and value to subscribers. Send two copies of the book to the Editor, Phil Fleckman. The copies will not be returned.

Statements and opinions expressed in the articles and communications herein are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the Editor(s), the University of California, and any other university with which the Editors are affiliated. The Editors and the University of California disclaim any responsibility or liability for the material in the Journal.

Editorial policies. Dermatology Online Journal is a refereed journal. Original manuscripts will be considered for publication. Information that has been published or is being considered for publication elsewhere will not be accepted. The editors should be advised if the authors feel that the change in format to distributed hypermedia on the World Wide Web alters material that has already been published sufficiently for consideration for republication by the Journal. In such cases, permission from the original publisher will be necessary.

• Manuscripts will be read by a member of the editorial board
• Manuscripts meeting the goals of the Journal will be reviewed by two independent reviewers
• A final decision will be made by the editor

Style. Manuscripts should conform to acceptable English usage. The authors may offer a parallel translation into another language or languagues, but the editorial review will be done on the English manuscript. Abbreviations must be limited primarily to those in general usage. Generic names must be used. If a trade name is included, it should follow the generic name in parentheses the first time mentioned. Thereafter, generic names only should be used. Weights and measurements should be expressed in metric units, and temperatures in degrees centigrade.

The Editors encourage the use of more than one pathway of presentation of the material which might allow the reader greater flexibility in viewing. Items which are given as linked material may link back to the primary manuscript path and/or provide additional linked material, however after the first level of linked material, pages should also include an optional link to return to the primary manuscript path.

In addition to being a resource for eduational material, Dermatology Online Journal is an experiment in the process of presenting this type of information on-line. Although there is a great deal of variation in format which could result here, we have chosen a rather traditional format for editorial consideration, and then allow a great deal of latitude in subsequent less refereed sections.

Preparation of Manuscripts

Preference will be given to manuscripts submitted in Hypertext Markup Language (HTML), but other submissions will be evaluated.

However, because prospective authors may not have experience in preparing material for the Web, the Editors can accept for review material which is not Internet-ready. We can also offer limited support with the conversion to WWW format. For most contributors, this is the suggested path:

PHASE ONE: THE PRIMARY TEXT DOCUMENT. First create an English language document in standard scientific format. This is the core material which is used to support any ancillary material. It is also the basis for comment by reviewers and editors.

TITLE

ABSTRACT

INTRODUCTION

METHODS

RESULTS

CONCLUSIONS

REFERENCES

FIGURES

TABLES

Editorial comments and annotations will be made on the document and it will be returned to you with those remarks. Tables and figures may be included in the document, however Images will need to be transferred as separate files. (See the subsequent section for a discussion of options for transmitting these files.)

PHASE TWO: THE FINAL MANUSCRIPT. Once the core manuscript has passed editorial review, you will be asked to provide additional material. The content of the additional material will not be subject to the same stringent review, and is considered unrefereed. The following should be included with the final paper:

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY. An executive summary is like an expanded abstract with appropriate graphics material. Generally it presents problems and conclusions.

BIOGRAPHY. This is professional information about you. Multiple authors may each submit a biography.

YOUR IMAGE. This will be included in the biography.

TITLE/TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE. When you have prepared all of the ancillary files, you will need to prepare the top page of your work which lists the resources presented.

PARALLEL TEXT: You are permitted to provide more than one version of your work, such as in another language, or another level of discussion. With parallel text you are offering the reader the option of replacing a section of the document with another version. One special form of parallel text is an executive summary (which replaces the entire document).

AMPLIFICATION INSERTION: You may provide an optional in-depth discussion about any of the points of your work. This additional material is anchored at the approprite point in the text, and the end returns the reader to the same point. Conceptually it is a loop that will lengthen the text.

REFERENCE MATERIAL: This may also provide amplification about an issue in the primary work, but differs in that the reader is not expected to go through the entire work as an expansion or substitution of the core discussion. Conceptually it is more like the material now given as end-notes or foot-notes. The Web format allows you a great deal more flexibility in the use of reference material. Instead of simply giving a citation of another work, it would be possible to append the full article. The reference could even be at another site.

HYPERTEXT IMAGES: Sometimes the amplification is visual rather than as text. Liberal use of hypertext images is encouraged.

HOW TO TRANSMIT YOUR WORK TO THE EDITORS

TEXT: The core text material should be sent in Microsoft Word 6.0 format. We have chosen this as a standard format in order to allow for comments by the reviewers will be given as annotations and additions/deletions on that document. This document may be sent:

(1) as an email attachment (preferred method)

(2) via ftp to a public site

(2) on diskette through the mail

IMAGES: We prefer receiving graphical material in digital format. If your tables and graphs are computer generated, they can usually be saved in Compuserve.GIF format. Drawings which originate on paper and photographs may be transferred to digital format using a flat-bed scanner. Digital images may be made from transparencies using a special scanners which are common on University campuses. If you don't have access to such a scanner, many photograph developers now offer this service. Hypertext images, those viewed by request rather than as an inline image in the document, should be saved in JPEG/JFIF format.

Current addresses for sending manuscripts:

Philip Fleckman MD
Editor Dermatology Online Journal

fleck@u.washington.edu

To submit a manuscrip via ftp or for clarifications or further discussion of this information:

Art Huntley MD

achuntley@ucdavis.edu