International Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation
Open Access

Instructions for Authors

Policy
The Journal publishes all types of articles of outstanding medical importance. We will consider manuscripts of any length; we encourage the submission of both substantial full-length bodies of work and shorter manuscripts that report novel findings that might be based on a more limited range of experiments.

The writing style should be concise and accessible, avoiding jargon so that the paper is understandable for readers outside a specialty or those whose first language is not English. Editors will make suggestions for how to achieve this, as well as suggestions for cuts or additions that could be made to the article to strengthen the argument. Our aim is to make the editorial process rigorous and consistent, but not intrusive or overbearing. Authors are encouraged to use their own voice and to decide how best to present their ideas, results, and conclusions. Although we encourage submissions from around the globe, we require that manuscripts be submitted in English.

Submit your manuscript at Online Submission System or as an E-mail attachment to manuscripts@longdom.org

Article Processing Charges (APC):
Publishing with open access is not without costs. The journal defrays those costs from article-processing charges (APCs) payable by authors once the manuscript has been accepted for publication. The journal does not have subscription charges for its research content, believing instead that immediate, world-wide, barrier-free, open access to the full text of research articles is in the best interests of the scientific community. The article processing charge for authors funded by any source of funding like Organization, Government, Research grant or National Institutes of Health (NIH) $ 3,619.  Payment must be received in full for the article to be published open access.

Average Article processing time (APT) is 55 days

Fast Editorial Review Process

International Journal of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation is participating in the Fast Editorial Execution and Review Process (FEE-Review Process) with an additional prepayment of $99 apart from the regular article processing fee. Fast Editorial Execution and Review Process is a special service for the article that enables it to get a faster response in the pre-review stage from the handling editor as well as a review from the reviewer. An author can get a faster response of pre-review maximum in 3 days since submission, and a review process by the reviewer maximum in 5 days, followed by revision/publication in 2 days. If the article gets notified for revision by the handling editor, then it will take another 5 days for external review by the previous reviewer or alternative reviewer.

Acceptance of manuscripts is driven entirely by handling editorial team considerations and independent peer-review, ensuring the highest standards are maintained no matter the route to regular peer-reviewed publication or a fast editorial review process. The handling editor and the article contributor are responsible for adhering to scientific standards. The article FEE-Review process of $99 will not be refunded even if the article is rejected or withdrawn for publication.

The corresponding author or institution/organization is responsible for making the manuscript FEE-Review Process payment. The additional FEE-Review Process payment covers the fast review processing and quick editorial decisions, and regular article publication covers the preparation in various formats for online publication, securing full-text inclusion in a number of permanent archives like HTML, XML, and PDF, and feeding to different indexing agencies.

Author Withdrawal Policy
From time to time an author may wish to withdraw a manuscript after submission. Changing one's mind is an author's preogative and an author is free to withdraw an article at no charge as long as the article is withdrawn before acceptance. After an article is accepted, the processing in initiated. Hereby if an article is withdrawan after its acceptance, a mandatory amount of post-processing fee is levied on the article.

Organization of the Manuscript
Most articles published in the journal will be organized into the following sections: title, authors, affiliations, abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, references, acknowledgments, and figure legends. Uniformity in format will help readers and users of the journal. We recognize, however, that this format is not ideal for all types of studies. If you have a manuscript that would benefit from a different format, please contact the editors to discuss this further. Although we have no firm length restrictions for the entire manuscript or individual sections, we urge authors to present and discuss their findings concisely.

Title (max 200 characters)
The title should be specific to the study yet concise, and should allow sensitive and specific electronic retrieval of the article. It should be comprehensible to readers outside your field. Avoid specialist abbreviations if possible. Titles should be presented in title case, meaning that all words except for prepositions, articles, and conjunctions should be capitalized. If the paper is a randomized controlled trial or a meta-analysis, this description should be in the title.

Authors and Affiliations
Provide the first names or initials (if used), middle names or initials (if used), surnames, and affiliations—department, university or organization, city, state/province (if applicable), and country—for all authors. One of the authors should be designated as the corresponding author. It is the corresponding author’s responsibility to ensure that the author list and the summary of the author contributions to the study are accurate and complete. If the article has been submitted on behalf of a consortium, all consortium members and affiliations should be listed after the Acknowledgments.

(For authorship criteria, see Supporting Information and Materials Required at Submission)

Abstract
The abstract is divided into the following four sections with these headings: Title, Background, Methods and Findings, and Conclusions. It should contain the all following elements, except for items in square brackets, which are only needed for some study types. Please use the same format for abstracts submitted as presubmission inquiries.

Title
This should be a clear description of the paper's content. The design must be present for randomized controlled trials or systematic reviews or meta-analyses and should be included for other study types if useful.

Background
This section should describe clearly the rationale for the study being done. It should end with a statement of the specific study hypothesis and/or study objectives.

Methods and Findings
Describe the participants or what was studied (eg cell lines, patient group; be as specific as possible, including numbers studied). Describe the study design/intervention/main methods used/What was primarily being assessed eg primary outcome measure and, if appropriate, over what period.

[If appropriate, include how many participants were assessed out of those enrolled e.g. what was the response rate for a survey.]

[If critical to the understanding of the paper, describe how results were analysed, i.e. which specific statistical tests were used.]

For the main outcomes provide a numerical result if appropriate (it nearly always is) and a measure of its precision (e.g. 95% confidence interval). Describe any adverse events or side effects.

Describe the main limitations of the study.

Conclusions provide a general interpretation of the results with any important recommendations for future research.

[For a clinical trial provide any trial identification numbers and names (e.g. trial registration number, protocol number or acronym).]

Introduction
The introduction should discuss the purpose of the study in the broader context. As you compose the introduction, think of readers who are not experts in this field. Include a brief review of the key literature. If there are relevant controversies or disagreements in the field, they should be mentioned so that a non-expert reader can delve into these issues further. The introduction should conclude with a brief statement of the overall aim of the experiments and a comment about whether that aim was achieved.

Methods
This section should provide enough detail for reproduction of the findings. Protocols for new methods should be included, but well-established protocols may simply be referenced. Detailed methodology or supporting information relevant to the methodology can be published on our Web site.

This section should also include a section with descriptions of any statistical methods employed. These should conform to the criteria outlined by the Uniform Requirements, as follows: "Describe statistical methods with enough detail to enable a knowledgeable reader with access to the original data to verify the reported results. When possible, quantify findings and present them with appropriate indicators of measurement error or uncertainty (such as confidence intervals). Avoid relying solely on statistical hypothesis testing, such as the use of P values, which fails to convey important quantitative information. Discuss the eligibility of research participants. Give details about randomization. Describe the methods for and success of any blinding of observations. Report complications of treatment. Give numbers of observations. Report losses to observation (such as dropouts from a clinical trial). References for the design of the study and statistical methods should be to standard works when possible (with pages stated) rather than to papers in which the designs or methods were originally reported. Specify any general-use computer programs used."

Results
The results section should include all relevant positive and negative findings. The section may be divided into subsections, each with a concise subheading. Large datasets, including raw data, should be submitted as supporting files; these are published online alongside the accepted article. The results section should be written in past tense.

As outlined in the Uniform requirements, authors that present statistical data in the Results section, should "...specify the statistical methods used to analyse them. Restrict tables and figures to those needed to explain the argument of the paper and to assess its support. Use graphs as an alternative to tables with many entries; do not duplicate data in graphs and tables. Avoid nontechnical uses of technical terms in statistics, such as "random" (which implies a randomizing device), "normal," "significant," "correlations," and "sample." Define statistical terms, abbreviations, and most symbols."

Discussion
The discussion should be concise and tightly argued. It should start with a brief summary of the main findings. It should include paragraphs on the generalisability, clinical relevance, strengths, and, most importantly, the limitations of your study. You may wish to discuss the following points also. How do the conclusions affect the existing knowledge in the field? How can future research build on these observations? What are the key experiments that must be done?

References
Only published or accepted manuscripts should be included in the reference list. Meetings, abstracts, conference talks, or papers that have been submitted but not yet accepted should not be cited. Limited citation of unpublished work should be included in the body of the text only. All personal communications should be supported by a letter from the relevant authors.

Journal uses the numbered citation (citation-sequence) method. References are listed and numbered in the order that they appear in the text. In the text, citations should be indicated by the reference number in brackets. Multiple citations within a single set of brackets should be separated by commas. Where there are three or more sequential citations, they should be given as a range. Example: "...has been shown previously [1,4–6,22]." Make sure the parts of the manuscript are in the correct order for the relevant journal before ordering the citations. Figure captions and tables should be at the end of the manuscript.

Because references will be linked electronically as much as possible to the papers they cite, proper formatting of the references is crucial. Please use the following style for the reference list:

Author names must be written as Last name, Initial., “Title”. J Short Name in Italics. Vol. Issue No (Year): Page number range.

Single Author: Last name, with dotted initials.
Last name, Initial., “Title”. J Short Name in Italics. Vol. Issue No (Year): Page number range.
E.g. Suresh, A. "Cytolytic vaginosis: A review." Indian J Sexually Transmitted Dis and AIDS 30.1 (2009): 48.

Two authors: & separated with dotted initials
First Author & Second Author. “Title”. J Short Name. Vol. Issue No (Year): Page number range.
E.g. Cerikcioglu, N., & Beksac, M.S. "Cytolytic vaginosis: Misdiagnosed as candidal vaginitis." Infect Dis Obstet Gynaecol 12.1 (2004): 13-16.

More than 2 authors
First Author, et al. Title. J Short Name. Vol. Issue No (Year): Page number range (Full pages).
E.g. Osset, J., et al. "Role of Lactobacillus as protector against vaginal candidiasis." Medicina Clinica 117.8 (2001): 285-288.

Books
Author 1. “Title of the Book.” nth ed. Publisher Name, Location, Country, Year.
Author 1 & Author 2. “Title of the Book.” nth ed. Publisher Name, Location, Country, Year.
More than 2 authors: Author 1, et al. “Title of the Book.” nth ed. Publisher Name, Location, Country, Year.

Acknowledgments
People who contributed to the work, but do not fit the criteria for authors should be listed in the Acknowledgments, along with their contributions. You must also ensure that anyone named in the acknowledgments agrees to being so named.

*Details of the funding sources that have supported the work should be confined to the funding statement. Do not include them in the Acknowledgments.

Funding
This section should describe sources of funding that have supported the work. Please also describe the role of the study sponsor(s), if any, in study design; collection, analysis, and interpretation of data; writing of the paper; and decision to submit it for publication.

Competing Interests
This section should list specific competing interests associated with any of the authors. If authors declare that no competing interests exist, we will print a statement to this effect.

Abbreviations
Please keep abbreviations to a minimum. List all non-standard abbreviations in alphabetical order, along with their expanded form. Define them as well upon first use in the text. Non-standard abbreviations should not be used unless they appear at least three times in the text.

Nomenclature
The use of standardized nomenclature in all fields of science and medicine is an essential step toward the integration and linking of scientific information reported in published literature. We will enforce the use of correct and established nomenclature wherever possible:

• We strongly encourage the use of SI units. If you do not use these exclusively, please provide the SI value in parentheses after each value.
• Species names should be italicized (e.g., Homo sapiens) and the full genus and species must be written out in full, both in the title of the manuscript and at the first mention of an organism in a paper; after that, the first letter of the genus name, followed by the full species name may be used.
• Genes, mutations, genotypes, and alleles should be indicated in italics. Use the recommended name by consulting the appropriate genetic nomenclature database, e.g., HUGO for human genes. It is sometimes advisable to indicate the synonyms for the gene the first time it appears in the text. Gene prefixes such as those used for oncogenes or cellular localization should be shown in roman: v-fes, c-MYC, etc.
• The Recommended International Non-Proprietary Name (rINN) of drugs should be provided.

Accession Numbers All appropriate datasets, images, and information should be deposited in public resources. Please provide the relevant accession numbers (and version numbers, if appropriate). Accession numbers should be provided in parentheses after the entity on first use. Suggested databases include, but are not limited to:

• ArrayExpress
• BioModels Database
• Database of Interacting Proteins
• DNA Data Bank of Japan [DDBJ]
• EMBL Nucleotide Sequence Database
• GenBank
• Gene Expression Omnibus [GEO]
• Protein Data Bank
• UniProtKB/Swiss-Prot
• ClinicalTrials.gov

In addition, as much as possible, please provide accession numbers or identifiers for all entities such as genes, proteins, mutants, diseases, etc., for which there is an entry in a public database, for example:

• Ensembl
•  Entrez Gene
•  FlyBase InterPro
•  Mouse Genome Database (MGD)
• Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man (OMIM)

Providing accession numbers allows linking to and from established databases and integrates your article with a broader collection of scientific information.

Figures
If the article is accepted for publication, the author will be asked to supply high-resolution, print-ready versions of the figures. Please ensure that the files conform to our Guidelines for Figure and Table Preparation when preparing your figures for production. After acceptance, authors will also be asked to provide an attractive image to highlight their paper online. All figures will be published under a Creative Commons Attribution License, which allows them to be freely used, distributed, and built upon as long as proper attribution is given. Please do not submit any figures that have been previously copyrighted unless you have express written permission from the copyright holder to publish under the CCAL license.

Figure Legends
The aim of the figure legend should be to describe the key messages of the figure, but the figure should also be discussed in the text. An enlarged version of the figure and its full legend will often be viewed in a separate window online, and it should be possible for a reader to understand the figure without switching back and forth between this window and the relevant parts of the text. Each legend should have a concise title of no more than 15 words. The legend itself should be succinct, while still explaining all symbols and abbreviations. Avoid lengthy descriptions of methods.

Tables
All tables should have a concise title. Footnotes can be used to explain abbreviations. Citations should be indicated using the same style as outlined above. Tables occupying more than one printed page should be avoided, if possible. Larger tables can be published as online supporting information. Tables must be cell-based; do not use picture elements, text boxes, tabs, or returns in tables. Please ensure that the files conform to our Guidelines for Figure and Table Preparation when preparing your tables for production.

1) When you submit an article; tables and figures must be submitted as separate files
2) Tables must be in Word.doc format
3) Line Graphs should be in or tif or eps formats, and resolution of 900-1200 dpi. If you are unsure about this, please send us the graph in Microsoft excel format and we will convert it into eps or tif formats.
4) Photographs containing no text must be in jpg or tif formats with resolution of 500+ dpi. If you do not have tif or eps, please submit as jpg.
5) Images which contain a combination of text and picture elements must be jpg or tif or eps formats with resolution of 500-1200 dpi. If you do not have tif or eps, please submit as jpg.

**** Generally, we will NOT accept any images with resolution below 300 dpi. You must submit at least in jpg format, that way we can change it into any other format accordingly.

**** Please note that all images must be big (greater than the intended size) and of high resolution.

For more information regarding the image quality requirements, please visit: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/about/PMC_Filespec.html#Image_File_Requirements

Please note that we will be strictly enforcing these conditions and files which fail to conform to these requirements will not be considered for publication. Multimedia Files and Supporting Information We encourage authors to submit essential supporting files and multimedia files along with their manuscripts. All supporting material will be subject to peer review, and should be smaller than 10 MB in size because of the difficulties that some users will experience in loading or downloading files of a greater size. If your material weights more than 10 MB, please provide it by email: manuscripts@longdom.org

Supporting files should fall into one of the following categories: Dataset, Figure, Table, Text, or Protocol. All supporting information should be referred to in the manuscript with a leading capital S (e.g., Figure S4 for the fourth supporting information figure). Titles (and, if desired, legends) for all supporting information files should be listed in the manuscript under the heading "Supporting Information".