Epileptic Disorders
Epileptic Disorders is a peer-reviewed
journal publishing articles on all aspects of the epilepsies, from
basic science to clinical research, and data from related
disciplines such as neurology, neuropediatrics, neuroimaging,
genetics and pharmacology.
Epileptic Disorders publishes “conventional”
articles including original works, reviews on specific themes and
case reports. An original feature of Epileptic Disorders is
the possibility to publish video sequences to demonstrate what
constitutes the essence of epileptic phenomena, clinical semiology.
Supplemental neuroimaging and EEG figures can also be included on
the DVD that accompanies all regular issues of the journal.
Online submission of manuscript
Manuscripts (including all figures, tables and
graphics) are submitted and reviewed exclusively online via the
journal’s website at:http://www.epilepticdisorders.com
Prepare your manuscript (text and tables) using a
word processing program and save as a .DOC or .RTF files.
Prepare each figure and table as a separate
electronic file, and name them as Fig1.JPG (or .TIF); Fig2.JPG,
etc. John Libbey Eurotext manuscript central supports most file
formats including PowerPoint, Excel, and Quick Time. Detailed
formatting instructions for electronic manuscript submission are
available on the website. The lead author’s name and the page
number must figure in the upper right hand corner of all pages.
Number pages consecutively beginning with the title page, including
references and figure legends. Submit tables and figures as
separate files.
When video sequences are part of the
submitted manuscript mark the upper right corner of the title page
of manuscript with “Video sequences are part of MS”. Video-data
should be submitted online via the website. Exceptionally
video-data can be sent by regular mail, in a numerical format
(CD-Rom…). When preparing video material, carefully follow detailed
instructions below. All video material should be labeled with the
name of the first author and running title of the article.
If a submitted article includes videos and/or
supplementary data, to be included in the DVD that accompanies the
journal, this must be indicated in the cover letter (see
below).
A cover letter (LEAD AUTHOR LAST NAME.DOC)
must accompany the online submission. Names of all authors must
figure in the letter. The authors must acknowledge in their cover
letter that they all agree with the submitted version of the
manuscript and that the work is not simultaneously under
consideration by any other journal. It is understood that the
material has not been previously published. If published in an
abstract form this should be said and referenced in the cover
letter. Address for correspondence must be clearly indicated,
including telephone number, fax number and email address.
Form of manuscript
The manuscript should be typed double-space, using
3cm margins. Subheadings should be used to designate
different sections of the text. Include the page number and
first author’s name in the upper right corner of each page
(including the reference pages, tables, figures and video legends).
Name the manuscript file using the leading author’s last name and
running title of the paper. Please avoid naming the file as: “My
text”, “Text”, “Manuscript” or even “Epileptic Disorders”, as this
is source of evident confusion for the Editorial Office.
Prior to submission, a professional editor or
colleague fluent in English should edit manuscripts prepared by
authors whose native language is not English for proper spelling,
grammar, and syntax. Manuscripts that do not conform to
these requirements will not be considered for reviewing.
The title page must include the title of the
article, a short (running) title of not more than five words, one
to six key words, the authors’ names and affiliations, the name,
address and contact telephone, fax and/or e-mail numbers of the
corresponding author, and must indicate whether or not there is an
accompanying video material. A separate paragraph should state if
the work was supported by a grant or otherwise and the meeting, if
any, that the work was presented. If video material is part of the
article, mark the upper right corner of the title page of
manuscript with “Video sequence is part of MS”.
All pages of the manuscript file should be numbered
serially. Each of the following parts of the manuscript should
be included in the main manuscript file and begin on a new
page:
- Title page including all data mentioned
above;
- Abstract;
- Main text in the format previously described;
- Acknowledgements;
- References;
- Legends for illustrations;
- Legends for video material.
Each figure, illustration and table must be
submitted as a separate file and named in accordance with order
of appearance in the main text.
TYPES OF ARTICLES
Original articles
The main text of original articles should follow
the usual format for scientific articles: Abstract, Introduction,
Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion. There is no limit on
the length of full papers provided they remain clear and
concise.
Review articles
Epileptic Disorders welcomes review articles
on topics with direct relevance to the understanding, prevention
and treatment of the epilepsies. These can range from in-length
reviews (no more than 6000 words) to mini-reviews. Review Articles
will be submitted to the usual peer review. Include an abstract and
one to six key words. Review articles can be associated to video
material.
Clinical commentaries
Case studies and short reports should be concise
and brief (preferably not exceed 1500 words, one or two figures and
ten references). They should be in the format of Introduction, case
study and discussion. Include a short abstract and one to six key
words. They can be associated to video material (see below).
Clinical commentaries with video
sequences
Cases in which images are the essence of the
message and that do not require a full article but are of clinical
or teaching interest can be submitted for publication as clinical
commentaries with video sequence. They must be accompanied by a
short abstract, a brief commentary to make visual data
understandable and a minimum of necessary references.
Letters to the Editor
Epileptic Disorders welcomes critical
comments on articles recently published in the journal. Letters
should preferably not exceed one printed page (1000 words including
references, one table or one figure). Letters can be associated to
video material. At the Editor’s discretion the letter may be sent
to the author of the original article and both letter and reply may
be published together.
Anatomo-electro-clinical correlations
Epileptic Disorders Case Records, published under
the heading “Anatomoelectro-clinical correlations” are expected to
provide to the reader a comprehensive approach of presurgical
evaluation and epilepsy surgery strategies. Authors are expected to
provide supplemental data for publication on the DVD to allow
further discussion on the surgical approach chosen. The Editor will
published all documented comments, critics and suggestions
discussing the approach taken by the authors. The readers are
invited to submit their eventual comments in the online submission
system as “Letter to the Editor” with reference to the Case
Records’ number.
Video teaching courses
The Editor will consider for publication video
teaching material on semiology of epileptic seizures,
electroclinical aspects of epilepsy syndromes and neurosurgery
techniques. The structure must be conceived for educational
purposes. Acceptance of such material would require an excellent
quality of the images and comments. It is recommended to write to
the Editor before engaging preparation of a video teaching course.
Together with the video material, authors will be asked to submit a
short manuscript summarizing the main message of the teaching
course and the titles of the sequences included. This will be
published in the journal accompanying the DVD and referenced.
Style
Spell out numbers below 10 or those used at the
beginning of sentences; use Arabic numerals for numbers above 10
and for units of measure. Avoid non-standard abbreviations. Terms
which are mentioned frequently may be abbreviated following
definition after the first use of the term and if this does not
detract from reader comprehension. Particularly when abbreviations
for genes or metabolic pathways are frequently used, it is highly
recommended to provide a table spelling out the most important
ones. Abbreviations like CNS, EEG, CSF, AED, MRI, need not be
written out. Drugs should be referred using international
non-proprietary (generic) names. Include an abstract (see
instructions below) and one to six key words. Number manuscript
pages consecutively
Abstract
An abstract of approximately 250 words should be
provided with original and review articles. A concise, few lines
abstracts should accompany short reports and video case reports.
Abstracts must be factual, presenting the aims, methods and results
of the work and the conclusions reached. To reduce benevolent work
of reviewers, when conclusions mentioned in abstract are not
clearly supported by evidence provided in the manuscript the
manuscript will not be considered for publication. Abstracts should
contain no abbreviations and no references.
References
References should be limited to essential
literature. When published original data is used to support the
manuscript’s hypothesis, authors are requested to include reference
of the master papers and avoid only referring to review articles.
Do not use numbered references in the text. Provide, in
parenthesis, the first author’s name followed by et al. or, if not
more than two authors, the two names, and year of publication (ex.
Kahane et al. 2002, Pellock and Glauser 2004). Papers in which the
reference citations do not follow this format will be returned for
retyping. To facilitate reading, it is recommended to avoid queuing
more than 4 reference citations in a parenthesis. References to
papers “in preparation” or “submitted” are not acceptable; if “in
press” the name of the journal or book must be given. Reference
citations should not include “personal communications” or other
inaccessible information; information derived from personal
communications or from unpublished work by the authors should be
referred to only in the text.
References should be listed at the end of the paper
in alphabetical order and not numbered. For multiple publications
by the same author, those by the author alone are listed first,
those with two authors listed after these and any with three or
more authors must be given up to a maximum of six and any more
should be indicated by the first three authors followed by et
al. If there is more than one paper for a given year, these
should be listed a, b, c, etc. The references should be
presented in the Vancouver style (see “Uniform requirements for
manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals”, Lancet or
Ann Intern Med 1997; 126: 36-47) and journal titles given in
their abbreviated forms (see “List of Journals Indexed in Index
Medicus”).
Downloading references direct from Medline is
highly recommended when preparing the reference list. References
must be accurate to allow, in the online version of Epileptic
Disorders, automatic links from the reference section of each
article to Medline. It is the responsibility of the author to
ensure the accuracy of the references in the submitted article.
The following are examples:
• Journal article:
Mauguière F. Scope and presumed mechanisms of
hallucinations in partial epileptic seizures. Epileptic
Disord 1999; 1: 81-91.
• Book:
Lüders HO, Noachtar S. Epileptic Seizures.
Pathophysiology and Clinical Semiology. Philadelphia: Churchill
Livingstone, 2000.
• Book chapter:
Ptacek LJ. Channelopathies: ion channels and
paroxysmal disorders of the nervous system. In: Berkovic SF, Genton
P, Hirsch E, Picard F. Genetics of focal epilepsies. London:
John Libbey, 1999: 203-14.
Figures and tables
For maximum quality, figures and graphs should be
submitted as separate files using a Windows compatible format (JPG,
EPS, GIF and TIFF). EEG recordings, CT scans and scanned images
must have a resolution of 300 dpi. Graphs and tables should be
numbered in order of appearance in the text. Authors who are unable
to provide figures in an approved electronic format should provide,
by regular mail, four samples of first-generation glossy or laser
prints, up to 14cm x 20cm, to assure optimal detail and contrast.
However, high-quality copies of the figures will be accepted for
review purposes if these copies clearly provide the information
transmitted by the original. On the back of each figure a label
should indicate top, sequence number in order of in-text citation
and first author name. Figure legends should be double-spaced and
grouped on a separate paper, incorporated to the main manuscript,
with numbers corresponding to the figures themselves. At the
Publisher’s discretion color illustrations will be reproduced at a
cost to the author. An estimate will be given on an individual
basis on request. Recognizable photographs of patients must be
accompanied by a letter from the corresponding author saying that
signed consent forms authorizing publication have been obtained for
all identifiable patients. It is the author’s responsibility to
ensure that all patients have given informed consent. In the event
where some of the illustrations are owned by third parties, the
author undertakes to obtain the necessary permissions from the
latter to include the illustrations in the article and the
distribution thereof in this form. Manuscript must be accompanied
by written permission for publication.
Supplemental data
In addition to the main figures to be printed with
the manuscript, authors can accompany the paper with supplemental
data, to be published, free of charge, exclusively on the
accompanying DVD. Such data can include MRI, fMRI as well as PET,
SPECT and neuropathology color plates. A brief description of each
figure should appear after the reference and legend sections and
titled “Supplemental data”. Each figure must be named separately
and the name must be called identically in the brief description
provided. At the Editor’s discretion large size files may be not be
included in the DVD.
Video material
When submitting manuscripts online, authors will be
able to indicate whether the article has accompanying video.
Preferably video sequences must be submitted in a numerical format.
The preferred standard is PAL. Send the sequence(s) in a
QUICK-TIME® compatible format (Macintosh or PC). To numerize videos
from analogic sources, note that the following parameters must be
used:
- PAL FULL SCEEN: 768 x 576, PAL one quarter
screen: 384 x 288, Image rate: 25/sec.
- NTSC FULL SCEEN: 640 x 480, NTSC one quarter
screen: 320 x 240, Image rate: 29,97/sec.
Authors who are unable to provide video sequences
online in an approved electronic format can send four CD-ROM or
DVD copies of the video material or four high quality S-VHS
copies of the master video by regular mail.
The Editorial Office will hold the article until
the video material arrives before sending both for review. Date of
submission will be the date of arrival of the full version. Label
each CD-ROM or DVD or cassette with name of first author and title
of manuscript. Name the videosequences as they figure in the
manuscript.
Videotape demonstrations of patients must be brief.
Approximately three to five minutes per patient is usually
adequate. The videotape should be of a high quality and make a
specific point; particularly, it should demonstrate the features
described in the manuscript. Legends for the videotape segments
should be part of the article and presented as a separate table.
Whenever possible, it is recommended to insert short explanatory
legends before the most important sequences of the video or to
insert voiceover. When the patient is explored during a seizure in
a language other than English, the authors must provide either a
translation of the discussion on a separate sheet or, preferably,
insert subtitles on the master video sequence. The Editors reserve
the right to request additional videotape editing by the authors or
to edit the videotape material themselves prior to publication,
including inserting voiceover. US Federal Privacy rules prohibit
sending signed consent forms to the Editor without permission of
the patient to do so. Consequently, video sequences
including recognizable patients must be accompanied by a letter
from the corresponding author saying that signed consent forms
authorizing publication have been obtained for all identifiable
patients. It is the author’s responsibility to ensure that
all patients have given informed consent. Manuscripts will not be
sent out for review until this signed authorization is received.
For information of the authors if videotapes of deceased patients
are to be shown, written permission is necessary from the next of
kin. Written parental consent is required for all material on
persons under the age of 18 years. It is the responsibility of the
authors to obtain any other consent and permission which may be
required by the institution in which the recordings were made and
to comply with any other local regulations concerning the release
of patient material for publication.
Ethical considerations
It is the author’s responsibility to ensure that
any experimental investigations on human subjects have been
performed following their informed consent and with the approval of
the relevant ethics committee(s). It is the author’s responsibility
to ensure that all patients or other subjects included on videotape
or other photographic media have given informed consent allowing
publication of the material with the understanding that it will not
be used for any other purposes than medical publication.
Peer review process
All submissions will be peer reviewed. Every effort
will be made to keep the delay for decision to 8 weeks or less.
Manuscripts not accepted will not be returned to the authors.
Copyright
All published material, both manuscripts and
videotapes, will be the copyright of Epileptic Disorders.
All authors must sign the copyright transfer docu ment prior to
publication. By submitting the manuscript, the corresponding author
acknowledges that all the co-authors have seen and approved the
final version of the manuscript and agree to share any material
used in the experiments or videotapes.
Proofs
Proofs of the manuscript material only will be sent
following acceptance, unless the editors require changes to the
videotape material. The order form for reprints will be included
with the proofs. Proofs should be returned within a week by
courrier or electronic means.
Disclosures form
The authors must precise eventual disclosures in
the submitted article. A disclosures form will be included with the
proofs.
Editorial office:
Authors must submit the manuscript and video
material electronically. For any further information regarding
online submission, or for the submission of heavy video documents,
please write to:
Pr. Alexis Arzimanoglou, Editor in Chief
Head of the Epilepsy, Sleep and Pediatric
Neurophysiology Dpt.
University Hospitals of Lyon
Hôpital Femme-Mère-Enfant
59 Boulevard Pinel
69500 Bron, France
E-mail: epileptic.disorders@chu-lyon.fr
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