Instructions for authors
healthbook TIMES Das Schweizer Ärztejournal
Journal Des Médecins Suisses
All articles should focus on important and topical subjects within the field of the respective author, with a particular focus on recent advances.
healthbook TIMES Das Schweizer Ärztejournal Journal Des Médecins Suisses is an open-access, peer-reviewed healthbook medical magazine (including DOI) focusing on internal medicine and further specialties. It is available in print as well as online. It offers a wide variety of practice-relevant content, including cutting-edge clinical studies, interesting case studies from leading doctors and expert opinions.
All submissions to the healthbook TIMES Das Schweizer Ärztejournal Journal Des Médecins Suisses should conform to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals.
Article Processing Charges
There are no “article processing charges” (APCs) or “page charges” for authors associated with our journal.
Prior to publication, all manuscripts, with the exception of Commentaries/Editorials, undergo a single-blind peer-review conducted by independent experts and reviewers in the field.
Review articles
Review articles should offer a comprehensive analysis of recent research in their clinical fields, delving deep into methodologies, findings, and implications rather than just summarizing studies. They should offer a detailed and thorough analysis of the current state of knowledge in the given area of study. The manuscript should be structured as abstract, introduction/background, body of the article with headings for each section, discussion, conclusions, references, tables, and figures.
- Word count - up to 4000
- Structured abstract - up to 300 words
- Up to 5 keywords
- Tables/illustrations - between 1 and 10
- References - approximately between 35 and 100
Mini review articles
Mini review articles should thoroughly analyze recent research in clinical fields. They are expected to provide a comprehensive understanding of the current state of knowledge. Furthermore, mini reviews can also summarize the latest practice-changing studies presented at congresses. The manuscript should be structured as abstract, introduction/background, body of the article with headings for each section, discussion/conclusions, references, tables, and/or figures.
- Word count - approximately between 1500 and 2500
- Abstract - between 150 and 250 words
- Up to 5 keywords
- Tables/illustrations - between 1 and 8
- References - approximately between 20 and 40; For congress summaries approximately 10-15.
Case reports / Case presentations
Case reports must encompass comprehensive and detailed case descriptions, alongside substantial deliberations concerning their significance in both clinical practice and research. The manuscript must follow the CARE guidelines for a case report, a checklist of what is required as determined by CARE can be found here. The manuscript must be structured in: abstract, introduction, case presentation, discussion/literature review, conclusions/take-home messages, references, tables, and figures. Furthermore, the manuscript must adhere to the following restrictions:
- Word count - between 1200 and 2500
- Succint abstract - between 150 and 200 words
- Up to 5 keywords
- Tables/illustrations - up to 5
- References - up to 50
The case presentation section should contain sufficient detail to the reported patient case, and should not contain subheadings, except when absolutely necessary.
Original research articles
Original research articles should include comprehensive and detailed method descriptions, discuss results, and clearly highlight their clinical and research significance for impactful contributions to the field. Adherence to ethical guidelines is mandatory for the manuscript. The manuscript should be structured as abstract, introduction/background, methods, results, discussion, conclusions/take-home messages, references, tables, and figures.
- Word count - up to 7000
- Structured abstract - up to 300 words
- Up to 5 keywords
- Tables/illustrations - up to 10
- References - up to 100
Commentaries / Editorials
Commentaries and editorials are reactions to and/or perspectives on significant events in the field in the clinical area. They may address a critical challenge, elaborate or extend a conversation of a focal article, provide an application of a theoretical perspective, or shed light on a particular issue in the field. Note that commentaries must include abstracts, while editorials do not.
- Word count - up to 1500
- Structured abstract - up to 200 words
- References - up to 10
Overall structure
Each article should be written in American English and must contain the following: Please note, the word count excludes the title page, abstract, tables, figure/table legends, acknowledgments, contributions, declarations and the references.
- A heading up to 15 words
- A short running title (maximum 5 words)
- Abstract
- Up to 5 keywords
- Introduction
- Body of the article divided in as many sections as required, each with a subheading
- Discussion
- Conclusions
- Key message of up to 15 words summarizing the article’s main finding
- Declarations for human research and/or use of patient data: Ethics approval and consent to participate; Consent for publication; Availability of data and materials
- Disclosures: Conflict of interest, Funding, Author contributions, Acknowledgments
- References
Tables should be provided with captions, numbered consecutively, and each table should be on a separate page of the manuscript.
Figures should each be submitted with a legend. Captions should be written to allow the figure to be understood without reference to the text. All abbreviations employed should be explained in the caption.
All citations included in figures, tables or captions must be mentioned in the main text to ensure the correct numbering of references in the bibliography.
If figures or tables have been included in the article from other publications, one must obtain permission from the rights-holder to use them before submitting the manuscript. If one includes figures or tables that have been adapted from published papers, then one is also responsible for obtaining the publisher’s permission to adapt them. You are requested to submit a copy of this permission with your article.
Declarations for human research and / or use of patient data:
Ethics approval and consent to participate
For articles concerning human research we encourage authors to refer to the Helsinki Declaration as revised in 2013 and include a statement about Patient Informed Consent for participation in the study. If the study does not concern any human research, this can be stated as: Not applicable.
Consent for publication
If the article concerns use of patient data, the authors will be asked to confirm the following statement: General written consent was obtained from the patient for the publication of this study/case report and any accompanying images.
Availability of data and materials
If the article concerns use of patient data, the authors will be asked to confirm the following statement: All patient data that support this study/case report are included in anonymized form in the published article.
Disclosures:
Conflict of interest
All financial, commercial, or other relationships that might be perceived by the academic community as representing a potential conflict of interest must be disclosed. If no such relationship exists, authors will be asked to confirm the following statement:
The authors declare that the study was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Funding
Details of all funding sources should be provided. Please ensure to add all necessary funding information, as, after publication, this is no longer possible. If no funding exists, authors will be asked to confirm the following statement: All authors have declared that no financial support was received from any organization for the submitted work.
Author contributions
The author contributions statement must describe the contributions of individual authors referred to by their initials (e.g. “NN collected the data, XX wrote the manuscript, etc.), and, in doing so, all authors agree to be accountable for the content of the work. Authors will be asked to confirm the following statement: All authors contributed to and approved the final manuscript.
Post-publication discussions
Debates post publication are endorsed at healthbook TIMES Das Schweizer Ärztejournal Journal Des Médecins Suisses through letters to the editor (technical comments), as it ensures high scientific quality.
Published articles that need to undergo correction are proceeded according to the following ICMJE guidelines.
Data sharing
A data sharing statement must be included in manuscripts that report the results of clinical trials following ICMJE guidelines
Reference style
Authors are requested to use a reference manager such as EndNote to arrange the references in the articles. All references in the manuscript should be included in the American Medical Association (AMA) 11th edition: style.
Publications:
Paik PK, Felip E, Veillon R, et al. Tepotinib in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer with MET Exon 14 Skipping Mutations. N Engl J Med. 2020;383(10):931-943. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2004407
Congress resources:
Tiseo M, Popat S, Kim HR, Ahn M-J. Brigatinib (BRG) vs crizotinib (CRZ) in anaplastic lymphoma kinase (ALK) tyrosine kinase inhibitor-naive ALK+ non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC): ALTA-1L final results. Presented at: ELCC 2022; 30 March - 2 April 2022. Poster 29P.
Website:
National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) Clinical Practice Guideline in Oncology (NCCN Guidelines®). Waldenström Macroglobulinemia. Version 1.2022. [Accessed April 2022]. Available from: www.nccn.org
Online ahead of print:
Modi S, Saura C, Yamashita T, et al. Trastuzumab Deruxtecan in Previously Treated HER2-Positive Breast Cancer. N Engl J Med. 2020;382(7):610-621. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1914510 [Online ahead of print].
Preprint:
Gorbalenya AE, Baker SC, Barker RS, et al. Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus: The species and its viruses-a statement of the Coronavirus Study Group. bioRxiv. [Available online as a preprint].
Books:
Author surname and initial. Title. City: Publisher; Year Published.
New approvals
BRAND NAME® (generic name). Product information. Swissmedic 2020. [Accessed April 2021]. Available from: www.swissmedicinfo.ch