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Instructions for Authors

Hepatobiliary & Pancreatic Diseases International (HBPD INT)

Copyright 2010, Hepatobiliary&Pancreatic Diseases International. All rights reserved. www.hbpdint.com

Hepatobiliary&Pancreatic Diseases International(HBPD INT) is a journal published bimonthly in English language by the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, Hangzhou, China. We welcome original articles from any part of the world; no charge is made for review. The papers are reviewed by members of the international editorial board of expert peer reviewers, then either accepted for publication or rejected by the Editor, please send all submissions to:

The Editor,Hepatobiliary&Pancreatic Diseases International(HBPD INT), First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310003, China.

Most of submissions accepted for publication may undergo revisions recommended by the reviewers, editors or statistical advisers. A decision takes from two weeks to three months, the longer period being due to the multiple reviews needed for papers likely to be accepted. Publication is from two to six months after final acceptance. Proofs of the edited paper and illustrations are sent to the corresponding author for correction and reply to any queries from the Editor. Reprints will be sent on request to the corresponding author within a few days of publication.

Submissions

Original articlesincluding randomized trials, intervention studies, studies of screening and diagnostic tests, cohort studies, cost-effectiveness analyses and case control studies should be prepared in accordance with theUniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals(www.icmje.org). Those of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) should follow the CONSORT-statement (www.consort-statement.org). We require three fully double-spaced copies of the whole article, each including an abstract, illustrations, captions, tables and reference. Each copy should have two cover pages, one with complete details of the title, the source, the authors and an address, telephone and fax number or Email address for the corresponding author. The second cover page, which should show only the title and subtitle of the article, will be sent to reviewers. The text and figures should exclude all references to the source of the work and the authors—this will be restored during editing and before publication.

The authors' names (normally no more than six) and their initials should be in the same form as in their other publications with one major qualification such as MD or PhD, their current appointment and a full postal address. One author should be named for editorial correspondence.

Each submission must be accompanied by a letter of transmittal signed by all the authors (see the detailed description in the last section) and other relevant documents including informed consent obtained from research subjects and research approval from the supervising or institutional ethics bodies. Author(s) of each submission should clarify the functions in or contributions to their research and declare, if any, competing interest.

A choice of one of the following statements will be requested when a decision has been made to accept the paper.

1. The author or one or more of the authors have received or will receive benefits for personal or professional use from a commercial party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article.

3. The author or authors do not choose to respond to the above statements.

The statements selected by the author or authors will be published with the article. The signature of each author will be required. No article will be published until the completed form has been received at theHepatobiliary&Pancreatic Diseases International(HBPD INT) office.

Manuscripts should be printed with generous margins, and double spacing is essential throughout the text, the references and the captions. Pages should be consecutively numbered with tables, captions and list of references each on separate pages. The style should be simple and direct, free from ambiguity and jargon, and with minimal use of abbreviations.

Thetitleof the paper should be chosen with care: a short one has more impact and may be expanded by a subtitle.

Structured abstractof original articles should include four sections as Background, Methods, Results and Conclusions and have no more than 300 words summarizing the most important points in the article, incorporating keywords suitable for electronic retrieval systems.Background:a precise statement of the primary focus of the study and the context in which it was carried out.Methods:how the study was performed, including details of clinical and/or technical procedures.Results:the salient results of the study.Conclusions:the conclusions and their clinical application. Equal emphasis should be given to positive and negative findings of equal scientific merit.

Themain textshould be divided under headings. For many papers the best sequence is Introduction, Methods (Materials or Patients), Results, and Discussion. The text should comment on, but should not repeat, the details given in tables or captions. Any acknowledgements should be made at the end of the main text.

Introduction:This should explain the problem which is to be addressed, with a definition of the hypothesis to be examined if appropriate, out-lining, briefly, its relevance to the appropriate literature.

Methods (Materials or Patients):The subjects of the study and the methods employed in the investigation must be clearly described. The reasons for examining the particular group of patients should be made clear, and reasons for exclusion of individuals from the study must be stated. Any group used as controls must be defined accurately.

Results:These must be clearly expressed in simple language. Tables or similar diagrams can be used but must not duplicate material already expressed in the text.

Discussion:This section must be succinct, pointing out the relevance of the work described in the paper and its contribution to current knowledge. The results must be interpreted clearly, and difficiencies expressed. Discussion of pertinent references must be concise and short.

Each of thetablesshould have a short descriptive heading.

TheReferencesin the text should include only those that are important and have been studied in full by the authors. Authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of their references and for correct text citation. When listing references the names of journals should be abbreviated according to Index Medicus (List all authors and/or editors up to 6; if more than 6, list the first 6 and et al). All references will be checked by us; we shall request PMID roots in the abstract serial number indexed by PubMed (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/ entrez?db=PubMed), and photocopies of the first and last pages of referenced articles which we have been unable to verify. They should be represented in the text by superscript numbers in the order of their appearance. The list of references at the end of the text should be in this numerical order with details and punctuation as follows:

Journal article

Alexander HR Jr, Libutti SK, Pingpank JF, Steinberg SM, Bartlett DL, Helsabeck C, et al. Hyperthermic isolated hepatic perfusion using melphalan for patients with ocular melanoma metastatic to liver. Clin Cancer Res 2003;9:6343-6349. PMID: 14695133

Special type of article

Yang HX, Zhao NQ. Treatment of palliative operation on unresectable carcinoma of the head of the pancreas [abstract in English]. Chin J Gen Surg 1994;3:215-217.

Journal article in electronic format

Morse SS. Factors in the emergence of infectious diseases. Emerg Infect Dis [serial online] 1995 Jan-Mar [cited 1996 Jun 5]; 1(1): [24 screens]. Available from:URL: www.cdc.gov/ncidod/eid/vol1no1/morse.htm

Book chapter

Calne RY. Experimental background. In: Calne RY(ed). Liver transplantation, 2nd ed. London: Grune & stratton; 1987:3-7.

Complete book

Maddrey WC, ed. Transplantation of the liver. New York: Elsevier Science Publishing; 1998.

Illustrationsmay be halftone photographs or black on white line drawings. Diagrams, charts and graphs should be produced by a professional artist. The "threedimensional" bar charts produced by computer programs are not acceptable. Photographs should be sent as glossy prints (18 cm by 12 cm is a convenient size). Illustrations should be unmounted and marked on the back with soft pencil with the first four words of the title, the figure number and the word "top". Photomicrographs with no inset scale should have the magnification of the print in the caption; stains should be reported. The lettering on diagrams and graphs should be large enough to be clear after it has been reduced for printing and be consistent in size and style. Color will be accepted only where it is essential. Permission to reproduce any borrowed illustration must be obtained from the authorand the publisher, and evidence of this permission must accompany the submitted article.

Review articlesare welcome especially systematic, critical assessments of literature and data sources pertaining to clinical topics, emphasizing factors such as cause, diagnosis, prognosis, therapy, or prevention. All articles and data sources reviewed should include information about the specific type of study or analysis, population, intervention, exposure, and tests or outcomes. All articles or data sources should be selected systematically for inclusion in the review and critically evaluated, and the selection process should be described in the paper. Meta-analyses also will be considered as review articles.

Research lettersare brief reports of novel research findings that might stimulate further research or alert readers to clinically relevant, but preliminary, information. A research letter should have no more than 900 words, a maximum of five references, and two tables or figures. An unstructured summary of no more than 100 words is required to include background, methods, findings, and interpretation.

Case reportsdescribe, in 600 words, a single interesting case, which should not be a rarity but one that a surgeon or physician might encounter, in which there was some difficulty in reaching a diagnosis, and that provides a teaching point. Preferably the case should have a good illustration. Consent for publication must be obtained from the patient or, if this is not possible, the next of kin before submission.

Clinical images,clear and interesting, are submitted with a descriptive paragraph of 150 words. Prints, slides, or electronic copy are all acceptable. Authors must obtain signed informed consent from the patient.

Letters to the editoron matters of recently published articles in the journal are especially welcome. Letters should be received with 4 weeks of the article's publication and should not exceed 400 words of text and 5 references.

Notes, news or announcements for conferences, symposia or meetings may be sent for publication at least 3 months before the required date of publication. These are mostly included under Meetings and Courses free of cost. Provide title, date(s) and place of the event and contact address, telephone, and Email address.Hepatobiliary&Pancreatic Diseases Internationalreserves the right to be selective in publishing these announcements. Those wishing for a detailed publication may submit as advertisements. For academy related information, special subsidized rates are available. Clarifications on rates are available from the editorial office.

Letter of transmittal

We require a letter transmittal signed by all named authors, stating that they have taken a significant and active part in the preparation of the article, that they have read and approved the final version, and are willing to discuss it in detail. One copy of all parallel or related submitted or published papers should be provided.

To conform with the Copyright Act of China, this letter must contain the following paragraph:

In consideration ofHepatobiliary&Pancreatic Diseases International (HBPD INT)reviewing and editing my (our) submission, the author(s) undersigned hereby transfer(s), assign(s), or otherwise conveys all copyright ownership toHepatobiliary&Pancreatic Diseases International (HBPD INT)of the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, and represent(s) that he(they) own(s) all rights in the material submitted. The author(s) further represent(s) that the article is original, that it is not under consideration by another journal in any language, and that it has not been previously published, in whole or in part, in another journal in any language. This assignment is to take effect only if the work is published inHepatobiliary&Pancreatic Diseases International (HBPD INT).

These instructions can also be found on the journal's website atwww.hbpdint.comand may be copied by those intending to submit a paper. Submissions should be addressed to: The Editor.Hepatobiliary&Pancreatic Diseases International (HBPD INT), First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine, 79 Qingchun Road, Hangzhou 310003, China.

efits in any form have been

or will be received from a commercial party related directly or indirectly to the subject of this article.