Instructions for Authors
All manuscripts must be in English. Pages should be numbered sequentially. The maximum length of contributions is 10 printed pages (Original Articles, Case Reports, Mini-reviews). Review articles (including Technical Reviews) are limited to 15 printed pages. Longer contributions will only be considered if authors provide a justification in the cover letter.
Submission of a manuscript implies: that the work described has not been published before; that it is not under consideration for publication anywhere else; that its publication has been approved by all co-authors, if any, as well as by the responsible authorities - tacitly or explicitly - at the institute where the work has been carried out. The publisher will not be held legally responsible should there be any claims for compensation.
Authors wishing to include figures, tables, or text passages that have already been published elsewhere are required to obtain permission from the copyright owner(s) for both the print and online format and to include evidence that such permission has been granted when submitting their papers. Any material received without such evidence will be assumed to originate from the authors.
Authors should submit their manuscripts online. Electronic submission substantially reduces the editorial processing and reviewing times and shortens overall publication times.
Every manuscript submitted to the Journal of the LA&HA undergoes the course of the peer-review process. Supplements can be exempt from this rule.
Types of papers
Original Article: Original research papers about any topic covered within the Aims and Scope of the Journal are welcome.
Case Report: A report is a description of a single case or a small series of cases illustrating exceptional results. Case report sections are as follows: introduction, case description, discussion. For guidance on acceptable handling of photographs and other safeguards of patient confidentiality and anonymity, refer to section II.E.1 of the ICMJE's (International Committee of Medical Journal Editors - http://www.icmje.org) Uniform Requirements: Patients and Study Participants.
Review: A full-length critical Review provides a summary and discussion of the relevant literature about any topic covered within the Aims and Scope of the Journal. Reviews should be accompanied by an abstract and generally be about the same length or slightly longer than a primary research paper.
Mini-review: A Mini-review is a sharply focused summary and assessment of the relevant literature concerning any topic covered within the Aims and Scope of the Journal.
The format of the manuscript
(Original Article)
The manuscript should be written in the following format:
• A Title, which adequately describes the content of the manuscript.
• An Abstract should not exceed 250 words. The Abstract should state the principal objectives and the scope of the investigation, as well as the methodology employed. It should summarize the results and state the principal conclusions.
• 4 - 6 significant key words should follow the abstract to aid indexing.
• An Introduction, which should provide a review of recent literature and sufficient background information to allow the results of the article to be understood and evaluated.
• Materials and Methods which should provide details of the experimental set-up and the methods used for obtaining the results. Use subheadings when necessary to increase the reader's understanding of the logical flow of the experiment(s).
• A Results section, which should clearly and concisely present the data using figures and tables where appropriate.
• A Discussion section, which should describe the relationships and generalizations shown by the results and discuss the significance of the results making comparisons with previously published work.
• Conclusions, which should present one or more conclusions that have been drawn from the results and subsequent discussion and do not duplicate the Abstract.
• References, which must be cited consecutively in the text using square brackets [1] and collected together in a reference list at the end of the manuscript.
(All Types of Articles)
Units: standard SI symbols and abbreviations should be used. Symbols for physical quantities in the text should be written in italics (e.g. v, T, n, etc.). Symbols for units that consist of letters should be in plain text (e.g. ms-1, K, min, mm, etc.)
Abbreviations: should be spelled out in full on first appearance, e.g., variable time geometry (VTG).
Meaning of symbols and units belonging to symbols should be explained in each case or quoted in a special table at the end of the manuscript before References.
Figures: must be cited in a consecutive numerical order in the text and referred to in both the text and the caption as Fig. 1, Fig. 2, etc. Figures should be prepared without borders and on white grounding and should be sent separately in their original formats.
Pictures: may be saved in resolution good enough for printing in any common format, e.g. BMP, GIF or JPG. However, graphs and line drawings should be prepared as vector images, e.g. CDR, AI.
When labeling axes, physical quantities, e.g. t, v, m, etc. should be used whenever possible to minimize the need to label the axes in two languages. Multi-curve graphs should have individual curves marked with a symbol. The meaning of the symbol should be explained in the figure caption.
Tables: should carry separate titles and must be numbered in consecutive numerical order in the text and referred to in both the text and the caption as Table 1, Table 2, etc. In addition to the physical quantity, e.g. t (in italics), units (normal text), should be added in square brackets. The tables should each have a heading. Tables should not duplicate data found elsewhere in the manuscript.
Acknowledgement of collaboration or preparation assistance may be included before References. Please note the source of funding for the research.
References
A reference list must be included using the following information as a guide. Only cited text references are included. Each reference is referred to in the text by a number enclosed in a square bracket (i.e. [3] or [4-8] for more references). No reference to the author is necessary. References must be numbered and ordered according to where they are first mentioned in the paper, not alphabetically. All references must be complete and accurate. Examples follow.
Journal article
Gamelin FX, Baquet G, Berthoin S, Thevenet D, Nourry C, Nottin S, Bosquet L (2009) Effect of high intensity intermittent training on heart rate variability in prepubescent children. Eur J Appl Physiol 105:731-738
Article by DOI
Slifka MK, Whitton JL (2000) Clinical implications of dysregulated cytokine production. J Mol Med. doi:10.1007/s001090000086
Book
South J, Blass B (2001) The future of modern genomics. Blackwell, London
Book chapter
Brown B, Aaron M (2001) The politics of nature. In: Smith J (ed) The rise of modern genomics, 3rd edn. Wiley, New York, pp 230-257
Online document
Cartwright J (2007) Big stars have weather too. IOP Publishing PhysicsWeb. http://physicsweb.org/articles/news/11/6/16/1. Accessed 26 June 2007
Dissertation
Trent JW (1975) Experimental acute renal failure. Dissertation, University of California
Always use the standard abbreviation of a journal's name according to the ISSN List of Title Word Abbreviations - www.issn.org/2-22661-LTWA-online.php
Copyright
Authors submitting a manuscript do so on the understanding that the work has not been published before, is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has been read and approved by all authors. The submission of the manuscript by the authors means that the authors automatically agree to transfer copyright to LAHA - Journal of the Laser and Health Academy when the manuscript is accepted for publication. All accepted manuscripts must be accompanied by a Copyright Transfer Agreement, which should be sent to the editor. The work should be original by the authors and not be published elsewhere in any language without the written consent of the publisher. The proof will be sent to the author showing the final layout of the article. Proof correction must be minimal and fast. Thus it is essential that manuscripts are accurate when submitted.
