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The Journal's aim is to
publish original scientific contributions in psychiatry, psychological medicine
(including surgery and obstetrics), and related basic sciences (neurosciences,
biological, psychological, and social sciences). Its scope includes any subspecialties
of the above, eg. behavioural pharmacology, biological psychiatry, child and
adolescent psychiatry, mental handicap, forensic psychiatry, psychotherapies,
psychiatry of old age, epidemiology, rehabilitation, psychometrics, substance
misuse, sexual studies, linguistics, and the history, philosophy and economics
of psychiatry.
The Journal will accept
original papers, clinical case reports, brief research reports, review articles,
perspective articles, historical papers, editorials, practice reviews (medical
audits), letters to the editor and book reviews. Review articles are usually
invited. Original data papers receive top priority for speedy publication.
Manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with the guidelines of the International
Committee of Medical Journal Editors.1 All case reports must have the patients
consent before an article can be published.
The page following the
title page should carry an Abstract followed by a list of three to 10 Key Words
or short phrases drawn, if possible, from the medical subject headings (MeSH)
list of Index Medicus.
The Title, Key Words and
Abstract should be chosen to help future literature searchers. The Abstract,
up to 150 words for an unstructured or 250 words for the structured abstract,2
should state specifically the main purposes, procedures, findings and conclusions
of the study, emphasising what is new or important. For original papers, brief
research reports, medical audits and review articles, a structured abstract2
is required, using the headings Objectives, Methods, Results (Findings for
review articles) and Conclusions.
Under the Abstract heading
of Method, include wherever applicable the study design, setting, patients/participants
(selection criteria, description), interventions, observational and analytical
methods and main outcome measures. (For review articles specify the methods
of literature search and selection). Under the Abstract heading of Results,
give the most important specific data together with their statistical significance.
Timely references should
highlight the study's relevance to current research or clinical practice. References
to journal articles1-3 and to books4-6 illustrate the ‘Vancouver' style,1 with
journal titles abbreviated as in Index Medicus. The Uniform requirements for
manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals1 has two paragraphs on statistical
guidelines. These have been explained by Bailar and Mosteller.3
Figures and graphs should
be clear and of good quality, and should be accompanied by relevant data to
facilitate redrawing where necessary. All materials sent for publication should
be accompanied by a covering letter signed by all the authors, and such material
will become the property of the Journal until, and if, publication is refused.
Material so referred should not be sent elsewhere for publication. One copy
of the manuscript should be retained by the author(s) for reference, and four
copies of the manuscript and covering letter, one of these being the original,
should be sent to:
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine,
25 Adelaide Street, Dun Laoghaire,
Co Dublin, Ireland.
All submissions are welcome
by email to psychological@medmedia.ie
All contributions are
peer-reviewed by three anonymous assessors and, where relevant, by the deputy
statistical editor whom authors may contact for help. Assessments will be sent
to the corresponding author usually within six weeks. Where revisions are sought
prior to publication, authors are advised to return their revision in quadruplicate,
incorporating any suggestions which they agree would improve their paper. The
covering letter should respond to each comment, numbered, of each assessor,
indicating where the revision deals with it, or why the authors disagree or
cannot incorporate it.
Each assessor will then
receive the authors' revision, covering letter and the previous comments of
the other assessors. After the assessors' further comments have been received,
the senior editors will make the final decision, including priority and time
of publication, and the right to style and if necessary shorten material for
publication.
References
1. International Committee
of Medical Journal Editors. Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted
to biomedical journals. BMJ 1991; 302: 338-41.
2. Haynes RB, Mulrow CD,
Huth EJ, Altman DG, Gardner MJ. More information abstracts revisited. Ann Intern
Med 1990; 113: 69-76.
3. Bailar JC, Mosteller
F. Guidelines for statistical reporting in articles for medical journals. Ann
Intern Med 1988 Feb; 108(2): 266-73.
4. Daly LE, Bourke GJ,
McGilvray J. Interpretation and uses of medical statistics. 4th ed. Oxford:
Blackwell Scientific Publications, 1991: 428-31.
5. Gardner MJ, Altman
DG, editors. Statistics with confidence – confidence intervals and statistical
guidelines. London: British Medical Journal, 1989: 103-5. [Note: British Medical
Journal here is the publisher of a book, not the journal BMJ.
6. American Psychiatric
Association. Diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disorders. Washington
DC: American Psychiatric Association, 1987.
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