INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS
Editorial policies
Dermatology Online Journal is a refereed
publication designed to meet the continuing education needs of the
international dermatologic community. This journal was created in an effort to
explore the educational potential of distributed hypermedia served via the
World Wide Web. The Journal is attempting to serve the dual role of providing
a good source of relevant information and trying to improve the way in which
information is transferred and accessed. The Journal may be found at:
http://dermatology.cdlib.org/DOJ.html
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.
- Computers in Medicine: 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.
- News Reports: Information of use of inteest to the dermatologic
community
- Correspondence: Brief letters to the Editor that comment on
previous articles.
- 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.
Copyright of original articles published in the
Journal is retained by the author, so use of clinical photographs in this
manner should not preclude future use elsewhere.
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
Authors who have a new concept for online presentation, but who
wish to discuss the mechanics of process are welcome to contact
the Editors by email to initiate a discussion.
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
This journal differs from the print media in that manuscripts need to be
submitted in electronic form. There are three levels of manuscript
preparation. Since this journal is concerned with ways in which
hypermedia (highlight a word or object calls up another set of text, an
image, sound, or video) the manuscripts should not consist solely of a
linear presentation. Alternate paths and their links should be clearly
indicated in the manuscript.
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
Send your manuscript in digital format as a Microsoft Word
6.0 document to the Editor.
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.
Here are examples of additional material which lend
themselves well to WWW format and which you may be
encouraged to inclue:
- 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. Please limit the width of
tables and graphs to 434 pixels.
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. Clinical images, should be saved in
JPEG/JFIF format. For clinical images, the Editors prefer that in-line images
are sized to 192*128 pixels, and hypertext images are 768*512 pixels. The
Editors can make the in-line images for you if you submit the larger size.
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