GUIDE FOR AUTHORS

Cardiorespiratory Physiotherapy, Critical Care and Rehabilitation (CPCR) welcomes articles written in English, in adults, paediatrics and neonates, related to cardiorespiratory physiotherapy and/or physiotherapy in critical care (or related topics) in one the following categories: original research, short communication, systematic review or letter to the editor. Besides these four categories, CPCR also publishes editorials and state of the art reviews only by invitation from the editors in chief. Case studies, study protocols or narrative reviews will not be accepted for publication.

All manuscripts should be submitted through our website:
http://www.uel.br/revistas/uel/index.php/cpcr/about/submissions#onlineSubmissions

Please read and follow carefully and thoroughly this guide’s instructions in order to avoid any processing delays.

Authors should guarantee that submissions conform to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals, issued by the International Committee for Medical Journal Editors – ICMJE (J Am Med Assoc 1997;277:927-934; www.icmje.org/index.html). Important aspects related to the conduct and reporting of research not specifically covered in the current guide for authors, such as the role of authors, can be found in the ICMJE recommendations document.

Ethics in publishing

CPCR endorses the principles of the Committee of Publication Ethics (COPE), which requests the highest standards of practice on all participants in scientific research and publishing (www.publicationethics.org).

Types of articles

Original research

The following study designs can be submitted under this section: clinical trials, epidemiological studies, observational studies, experimental studies, qualitative studies and economic analyses. Clinical trials must have been registered in a publicly-accessible trials register and the registration number should be provided in the main text of the manuscript.

Short communication

Under this section, authors can submit original research that contains preliminary findings or represents a smaller, exploratory or pilot study.

Systematic review

This type of article includes literature review studies which systematically search, select, analyse and/or synthesise the literature on a specific topic, with or without including meta-analyses as part of the results. Scoping reviews can also be submitted under this section. Systematic reviews must have been registered in a publicly-accessible trials register and the registration number should be provided in the main text of the manuscript. Literature reviews that do not establish specific criteria for selecting and analysing the literature (i.e., narrative reviews) will not be accepted.

Letter to the editor

Authors can submit under this section, short pieces of text that provide comments, questions, or criticisms about articles previously published in CPCR. A letter to the editor related to a specific article will be accepted only if received within 90 days of the publication of the related article. When a letter to the editor is submitted, the authors of that specific article are contacted and encouraged to provide a rebuttal, if wished.

Editorials

Editorials are short pieces of text covering comments about a specific article published in CPCR. This type of article is published only after an invitation from the editors in chief.

State of the art reviews

This type of article is similar to a systematic review, but should reflect the present state of scientific development of a timely and important topic related to the scope of CPCR. This type of article is published only after an invitation from the editors in chief.

Article preparation

In an attempt to facilitate the submission process, minimal article formatting is required from authors when submitting their work to CPCR as an initial submission. The only requirements requested to authors when submitting their work are the ones presented in the table below. Further requirements presented in the paragraphs following this table are only necessary when a revised version of the manuscript is requested from authors. Nevertheless, authors are free to format their manuscript according to all CPCR requirements when submitting their work as an initial submission if they decide to do so. This might shorten the review process.

* The word count limit includes from the beginning (introduction) to the end (conclusions) of the main text, therefore excluding the abstract (when applicable), references and other elements.

CPCR only accepts articles written in English. Authors can use either American or British English, but should avoid mixing these two.

CPCR does not limit the maximum number of authors, as long as all the requirements for authorship as stated in ICMJE recommendations mentioned in this Guide for Authors have been met.

The abstract (when applicable) should concisely provide the background for the study, the study’s objective(s), basic procedures, main findings and conclusions under the following headings: Background; Aims; Methods; Results; and Conclusions. These headings should be consecutively followed and clearly identified. Authors should also provide 3-5 keywords immediately after the abstract. These should reflect the essential topics of the article and will be used for indexing purposes. Authors are strongly encouraged to select the article’s keywords from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list (www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/), but other relevant keywords can be also used, if necessary.

All manuscripts should be submitted in the native format of the word processor used in order to avoid problems while processing the article.

Tables should be submitted as editable text and presented next to the relevant text in the article. They should be numbered consecutively according to their appearance in the text, and any table notes should be presented below the table body. Shading in table cells should be avoided.

Figures should be submitted as .jpeg or .tiff. with a minimum resolution of 300 DPI and presented next to the relevant text in the article. They should be numbered consecutively according to their appearance in the text. Black-and-white and/or coloured figures are both acceptable without any charges as the manuscript will be published in electronic version only.

We encourage authors to visit the EQUATOR Network website (www.equator-network.org) to consult and follow appropriate guidelines for the reporting of their study (e.g., the CONSORT guidelines for the reporting of randomized trials). A list of the most common study designs and the related guideline are presented below:

• Randomised trials: CONSORT

• Observational studies: STROBE

• Systematic reviews: PRISMA

• Diagnostic/prognostic studies: STARD

• Qualitative research: SRQR

Online supplementary materials are materials that could not be included in the main text due to word limit constrains but have the potential to support and/or enhance the material presented in the main text. Examples of supplementary materials include extra details about the methods used in the article as well as extra results, tables and figures focusing on secondary analyses. The online supplementary materials should also be submitted for peer review as a single file. Once the manuscript has been accepted, the supplementary materials will be available in the website of CPCR and could be accessed through a link provided in the main text.

Authors should adopt in their manuscript the Vancouver numbered style of referencing, and it is their entire responsibility the accuracy of bibliographic citations. Journal titles should be abbreviated in the references according to the List of Journals do Index Medicus (http://www2.bg.am.poznan.pl/czasopisma/medicus.php?lang=eng). Journal titles that are not included in this list should not be abbreviated. In case of references with up to 6 authors, all author names should be presented. In case of references with more than 6 authors, only the first 6 authors should be presented and followed by “et al.”. DOI numbers should be provided along with the references when available.

Original research

The main text of this type of article should be divided into Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion sections. Conclusions should be presented at the end of the Discussion section. Subheadings within each section can be used as necessary. Submissions of clinical trials should provide the trial registration number right after the abstract. If human subjects are involved in the study, authors should guarantee that the work has been carried out in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) for experiments involving humans (www.wma.net/policies-post/wma-declaration-of-helsinki-ethical-principles-for-medical-research-involving-human-subjects/). If the study involves animal experiments, authors should guarantee that the work has been carried out in accordance with EU Directive 2010/63/EU for animal experiments (ec.europa.eu/environment/chemicals/lab_animals/legislation_en.htm). Ethical approval must be obtained and should be stated in the Methods section, as well as in the Title page. The name of the institution/committee that provided the approval and the approval number must be included. For studies with human subjects, authors should also state in the Methods section whether all participants provided signed informed consent. In this type of article, authors should also provide 1 to 3 bullet points (adding up to a maximum of 60 words in total) at the end of the main text (after the conclusion) answering the question “How can the results of this study be used in clinical practice?”. This piece of text is intended to help knowledge translation in clinical practice.

Short communication

The manuscripts submitted to this section should follow the same instructions provided for the original research type of article; except for the subheadings and the short piece of text for knowledge translation.

Systematic review

The main text of this type of article should be divided into Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion sections. Conclusions should be presented at the end of the Discussion section. Subheadings within each section can be used as necessary. Systematic reviews must have been registered in a publicly-accessible trials register and the registration number should be provided in the main text of the manuscript right after the abstract. In this type of article, authors should also provide 1 to 3 bullet points (adding up to a maximum of 60 words in total) at the end of the main text (after the conclusion) answering the question “How can the results of this study be used in clinical practice?”. This piece of text is intended to help knowledge translation in clinical practice.

Letter to the editor

The main text of this type of article should be presented as one piece of text without headings or subheadings. The main instructions for this type of article are presented in the table provided in the section “Article Preparation” of this Guide for Authors.

Editorials

The main text of this type of article should be presented as one piece of text without headings or subheadings. The main instructions for this type of article are presented in the table provided in the section “Article Preparation” of this Guide for Authors.

State of the art reviews

The manuscripts submitted to this section should follow the same instructions provided for the systematic review type of article.

Submissions items and checklist

Authors should submit the following items as separate files: cover letter, title page, manuscript file, online supplementary materials (when applicable), and ICMJE disclosure forms for each author (available here). ICMJE disclosure forms must be submitted even if there are no conflicts of interest. A filled sample of the ICMJE disclosure form can be accessed here. *If you are unable to access the content of the forms above, please refer to the ICMJE guidelines. 

Submission of manuscripts revised by the authors should be accompanied by a point-by-point reply to reviewers’ comments and by a revised version of the manuscript file. If the manuscript includes previously published materials (e.g., illustrations), formal permission to reproduce these materials should be provided.

Cover letter

A cover letter is required for submission. Authors must state that the manuscript or parts of it have not been and will not be submitted elsewhere for publication. A full statement about previous submissions and reports that might be regarded as redundant publication must be provided. Manuscripts including secondary analysis of previously published data should acknowledge the previously published work while providing the related references. This piece of information should also be present in the main text of the manuscript.

Furthermore, it must be stated in the cover letter that the manuscript has been seen and approved by all authors, that the requirements for authorship as stated in ICMJE recommendations mentioned earlier in this page have been met, as well as that each author believes that the manuscript represents honest work. Authors should also state in the cover letter that all authors transfer the manuscript’s copyright to CPCR once the manuscript is accepted for publication.

Authors are also encouraged to provide in their cover letter a list of at least two potential reviewers for their manuscript with contact information (i.e., institution and e-mail address). They can also provide a list of non-preferred reviewers, if necessary, but the reasons for this should be provided. This is classified information and will not have any influence in the review process.

The cover letter should be signed by the author responsible for submitting the manuscript, who takes full responsibility for all the information provided.

Title page

Authors should provide in the title page the article title (up to 200 characters with spaces), short title (up to 80 characters with spaces), authors’ name, affiliation and email address, authors’ conflict of interest declaration, authors’ contribution to the manuscript, word count (main text and abstract, if applicable) and the number of tables and figures. Authors are strongly encouraged to keep in their native language the name of the institution they are affiliated to, unless instructed differently by their institutions. Authors should state 'Conflicts of Interest: None' if there are no conflicts of interest to declare. Examples of contributions to the manuscript roles include: Conceptualization of the study; Data acquisition, supervision, analysis and/or interpretation; Funding acquisition and; Writing, revising and/or editing the manuscript. When applicable, it should be also provided any disclaimers, acknowledgements, sources of support (and their role), and ethical approval. Finally, the title page should also contain the authors’ Open Researcher and Contributor Identification (ORCID) (for details, please visit orcid.org) and the corresponding authors’ affiliation, postal address, telephone number and e-mail address.

Manuscript file

The article manuscript file should include the article title, abstract (when required), main text (including tables and figures with their legends) and references. The review process is blinded, and therefore authors should guarantee that the entire manuscript file is free of any author identification. Once the manuscript has been sent back to authors for revision, authors should include a revised version of the manuscript file during the resubmission process.

Online supplementary materials

The content of the online supplementary materials files may vary according to the type of article. The information provided in this item should be presented in a single file, in the same order of their presentation in the main text of the manuscript.

ICMJE disclosure form

CPCR endorses the ICMJE recommendations for conflicts of interest. All authors are requested to fill out the ICMJE Form for Disclosure of Potential Conflicts of Interest.

Point-by-point reply

Once the manuscript has been sent back to authors for revision, during the resubmission process authors should also provide as a separate file a point-by-point reply document addressing each of the comments raised by the reviewers and/or editors. This document should be submitted together with all the requested items for submission. A revised version of the manuscript file should be also provided.

Checklist

Authors should guarantee that the following items are present as separate files when submitting their manuscript:

• Cover letter

• Title page

• Manuscript file

• Supplementary materials (if applicable)

• ICMJE disclosure forms

• Point-by-point reply to reviewers and editors (if applicable)

All the requested information for each of these items should be provided as stated in earlier paragraphs. Moreover, authors should also ensure that the manuscript has been checked for spelling and grammar, that references are in the correct format and all citations mentioned in the text have corresponding references in the list at the end of the manuscript, and vice versa, and that permission has been obtained for the use of copyrighted material (if applicable).

Copyright

Copyright of accepted manuscripts should be transferred to CPCR in the cover letter. Individuals who intend to use the manuscripts published in CPCR for non-academic and/or commercial purposes should contact the Editorial Office for formal permission.

Fees and open access

CPCR requests no charges for manuscript processing and/or publication. Open access is provided to all accepted manuscripts.

Reviewing process and publication

Once the manuscript has been submitted to CPCR, the editors in chief will assess its suitability to the journal taking into account the journal’s scope and the potential interest by the journal’s readers. Editors in chief will either reject the manuscript if they think the manuscript is not suitable to CPCR, or send it for formatting and plagiarism evaluation it they think the manuscript should be reviewed. If there are any formatting and/or plagiarism issues, the manuscript will be sent back to authors for corrections. Once the manuscript has no formatting and plagiarism issues, editors in chief will select one associate editor to be in charge for the review process. This associate editor will then select at least two blinded reviewers to review the manuscript independently. These reviewers are requested to send their comments about the manuscript to the associate editor in up to 4 weeks. Once the associated editor has the reviewers’ comments, together with one of the editors in chief he/she will decide if the reviewers’ comments should be sent to the authors for amendments, or if the manuscript should be rejected, or if a third reviewer should be invited. In the first case, authors will have up to 3 weeks to submit a revised version of the manuscript (more time can be requested from authors if necessary). Once the manuscript is accepted, it will be made available in the CPCR website taking into account the continuous publication model adopted by this journal.

Manuscripts will be revised using a plagiarism programme. If any form of scientific misconduct is identified, the corresponding author will be contacted and requested to provide explanations. Other authors and/or the authors’ institutions might be contacted as well, if necessary. Please visit the COPE website and ICMJE recommendations mentioned earlier in this page for details on scientific misconduct. Manuscripts will be published in an electronic version only.

Language editing services

Authors are strongly encouraged to have their manuscript translated and/or revised by a professional who works with English language writing before submission. At the moment, CPCR does not work in partnership with any language and editing company, and therefore no contacts or recommendations are provided to the authors.

Other important issues

Change of authorship is not advised, but is possible only after a plausible explanation is provided to the editors in chief and if the manuscript has not been accepted for publication.

If authors have uncertainty about any other important issue not covered in the current page, they are strongly encouraged to contact the editorial office for details.

Contact information

Any queries should be directed to the Editorial Office: editorialoffice@cpcrjournal.org

Last updated 18^th November 2020.