Case reports

Author Guidelines

Dear authors, please bear in mind that the initial review of any paper submitted as of January 1^st, 2022  may take up to one month. Furthermore, it is worth noting that, in case the article is accepted for final publication, it will not be published in Volume 9 (2023), but most likely in Volume 10 (2024), provided that all articles to be published in issues 1 and 2 of Volume 8, and issue 1 and 2 of Volume 9 have been already assigned. So please, take this information into account before making a submission.

1.  Submission of articles

a. The manuscripts must be adheres to the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

b. The text should be in Word format (.doc or .docx), letter-size sheet (21,5 x 27.5 cm), double spacing and 12-point Verdana font. The pages should be numbered in the upper right corner, starting from the title page.

c. Articles shall only be received at our Open Journal System (OJS) website

d. Submission must include:

• All authors’ full names and last names
• Identification number of the authors (include one: ID number, passport number, ID number, CURP, etc.)
• Institutional affiliation (Include departments, schools, institutions, organizations, etc.)
• E-mails of each author
• ORCID identification of each author
• Complete correspondence of the main author: name, institutional address, city and country, email.
• “The conflict of Interest Disclosure Form”
• Document of “Assignment of rights”
• Letter of “Authorship responsibility”

2. Languages of submission and language of publication

Articles shall be received in Spanish, and English. If the article is accepted, it shall begin a transition process for being published in English. It is highly recommended that the submission is made in Spanish. If the authors are non-Spanish-speakers, the article must be reviewed by an expert in proofreading of academic articles. If the drafting of the text does not have the required quality (both in Spanish and English), the article will be rejected.

3. Structure of manuscripts

a. To report the clinical case, we recommend following the CARE guidelines checklist, as well as the instructions for authors for writing case reports.

b. The article must consist of:

1. Title
2. Structured abstract
3. Keywords
4. Introduction
5. Case presentation
6. Discussion
7. Conclusions
8. Ethical considerations
9. Conflict of interests
10. Funding”
11. References

c. Case Reports should be between 1 500 and 2 500 words, including the abstract and tables, and excluding references.

d. Case series and Reviews should be 3 500 words including the abstract and tables, and excluding references.

3.1 Main page. On its first page, the letter must contain the following:

a. Title. Provide a title in the language in which the article is written and a second language max 25 words. The area of focus and case report should appear in the title.

b. Authors. They must be identified with:

1. All authors’ full names and last names must be stated; their institutional affiliation must be identified with superscript Arabic numerals.
2. Type and identification number
3. ORCID registration number
4. Email

c. Institutional affiliation. Institutional affiliation for each author must be presented without specifying positions, only institutions and sections/departments within them shall be included.

d. Corresponding author. Name, city, country and email address of the main author or author with whom communication should be established.

e. Word count. Please state the total number of words that make up the article without considering words included in titles, abstracts, acknowledgments, tables, figures, and the list of references. The number of words must not exceed the maximum allowed for each the type of article (see Section 3c)

3.2   Abstract: It must not exceed 200 words. For case reports, abstracts shall be presented in accordance with the CARE checklist of information to include when writing a case report:

• Introduction – What is unique and why is it important?
• Abstract of the case: The patient’s main concerns and important clinical findings. The main diagnoses, interventions, and outcomes.
• Conclusion—What are one or more “take-away” lessons?

The abstract should be structured; likewise, non-standardized abbreviations should be avoided. The abstract should be submitted in both Spanish o Portuguese and English languages.

3.3 Keywords. Include 3 to 6 exact descriptors from DeCS and exact MeSH descriptors.

3.4 Introduction. Expose the background of the case, the current standards of care (if any) with reference to relevant medical literature. Do not review the subject extensively and cite only the strictly necessary references.

3.5. Case presentation

a. Demographic information. Include contextualization data of the patient, always considering confidentiality. Sex, age, ethnicity and occupation are considered as especially important. Other data such as educational attainment, socioeconomic status, religion and others, should be added if the authors consider that they are relevant to the report.

b. Symptoms and history. Describe the reason for consultation and the development of the relevant symptoms of the current disease that motivated consultation, including previous diagnostic or therapeutic interventions and outcomes according to their relevance. Also, include the most significant medical information about the patient, including physicians and pharmacologists.

c. Physical examination. Describe the relevant physical findings. For case reports in the social and human sciences you should make contextual descriptions.

d. Diagnostic evaluation. It should include:

• Diagnostic aids used, such as imaging, questionnaires, laboratory tests, histopathology, among others. Information should include units of measurement of the quantitative results and the reference range when it is considered relevant.
• Diagnostic difficulties (such as financial, linguistic, cultural barriers, among others).
• Rationale and diagnostic approach, including differential diagnoses considered and diagnostic challenges.
• Consider making tables or figures that connect diagnostic rationale, diagnostic evaluation and interventions.
• When applicable, include considerations for the evaluation of prognostic factors (e.g., tumor staging in cancer).

e. Therapeutic intervention. It should include the following aspects.

• The types of intervention performed (e.g., changes in lifestyle, pharmacological, surgical, educational).
• Application of the intervention (in case of a medication, for example, name, dose, route of administration, duration)
• Changes in interventions, together with the reasons for the change.
• Clarify if there were other concurrent interventions, not necessarily related to the diagnosis of work (e.g. continuation of medication in patients with chronic diseases).

f. Follow-up and outcomes: It should include the following aspects:

• Results evaluated by the doctor, as well as by the patient, when applicable.
• Results of relevant follow-up diagnostic tests and aids.
• Evaluation of tolerance and adherence to interventions.
• Adverse effects of interventions.

g. Timeline. Use a figure or table to describe the most relevant diagnostic and intervention events of the case. It is optional; do it if you consider that it will give greater clarity to the development of the case.

3.6 Methods: Applies to review articles. To do this, describe the search and evaluation process of the literature.

3.7 Discussion. Present a discussion that includes:

• Strengths and limitations in the conduct of the case.
• New and important aspects of the case
• Hypothesis to be evaluated and include the reasoning to reach these
• Evaluation of possible cause-effect relationships (when considered).

3.8. Conclusions. Write the main lessons learned from the case and the conclusions proposed based on it.

3.9. Patient’s perspective.  Whenever possible, establish the experience and perspective of the patient in the development of the clinical case, and include it in the text.

3.10. Ethical considerations. For case reports, it should be stated that informed consent was obtained, or in its absence, ethics committe aproval by the institution where the patient data was obtained. Additionally a copy of the patient's or patients' informed consent or the ethics committe approval must be attached in the submission process. For cases series, it should be clearly stated that the Declaration of Helsinki guidelines for conducting biomedical research on humans and other national relevant regulations (duly referenced) were followed, and that the study was approved by the ethics committe of the institution or institutions where it was carried out.

3.11 Conflict of interests. State whether the authors have a conflict of interest for the preparation of the article because of the study or for any other reason.

Remember that there is conflict of interest when professional judgment may be influenced by an external factor such as economic interests, personal relationships, academic competition, among others.

Please state, based on the funding sources of the study or any other reason, whether the authors have a conflict of interest or not. Authors must complete and sign the Conflict of Interest Disclosure Form of the ICMJE (http://www.icmje.org/about-icmje/faqs/conflict-of-interest-disclosure-forms) and attach it to the submission.

3.12 Funding. Indicate the source of financial support, if any, in the form of a research grant, equipment, medication or all the above. All financial assistance received should be declared, specifying whether the organization that provided it had an influence on the case or case series report. For systematic case reviews, authors should state if there was an impact on the design of the information search, analysis or interpretation of the results and in the preparation, revision or approval of the manuscript.

3.13 References. References must be introduced in order of appearance and identified by Arabic numerals in parentheses, without superscripts, at the end of the sentence or paragraph where they are alluded to.

Both in-text and end references must conform strictly to the Vancouver style adopted by the ICMJE in its recommendations. Please include DOI where applicable.

3.14 Tables and Figures

• They must be editable.
• A maximum of 6 tables and / or figures will be allowed.
• The tables must be presented in the same document immediately after their mention; they should not be sent as an appendix.
• Tables and Figures must have a source, be listed in consecutive order and have a title that explains their content.
• Included in the figures (eg graphics, radiographs, electrocardiograms, ultrasound, photographs, drawings, diagrams, etc.).
• Graphics must be made with a minimum resolution of 92 dpi (dots per inch) or 1000 px (pixels on its widest side).
• Photographs of people and figures (radiographs, etc.) must respect the anonymity of the people involved in them and have informed consent of the patient.

3.15 Non-original material. If tables or figures taken from other publications are reproduced, the written authorization of their authors or owners of publishing rights must be provided, as appropriate.

4. Authorship and assignment of rights. The authors declare that this work (or important parts of it) is original and unpublished and will not be presented to other journals for evaluation until the concept of the editorial team of the journal is received.

The authors must comply with and abide by the authorship criteria established in the aforementioned recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), section II, subsections A and B, http://www.icmje.org/icmje-recommendations.pdf  .

Likewise, the authors, when uploading the Uniform Disclosure Form for possible Conflicts of Interest, the assignment of rights and responsibility, they assign the publication rights to the Case reports and declare that the article presented is original and of its authorship.