ENDOCRINOLOGÍA y NUTRICIÓN will consider for publication papers dealing with Clinical and Experimental Endocrinology, Metabolism and Nutrition.

The Journal comprises the following sections:  

Original articles. Clinic and experimental papers, preferentially prospective and additional contributions on etiology, physiopathology, pathology, epidemiology and diagnostic methods and procedures.

The maximum text length is eight double-spaced typewritten ISO A4 sheets plus four figures and three tables.  

Brief communications. Papers with final or preliminary results of enough interest to warrant a faster publication.

The maximum extension is four double-spaced ISO A4 plus two figures and one table.  

Clinical notes. Description of one or more clinical cases of unusual presentation or offering some new aspect of a disease or syndrome that implies a significant contribution to their understanding. The maximum text length is five double-spaced ISO A4 sheets plus two figures and two tables..  

Letters to the Editor. This section aims to allow a dynamic exchange of knowledge and experiences between the readers of ENDOCRINOLOGÍA y NUTRICIÓN. In addition to original observations and comments on published papers, opinions and thoughts on any aspect related to the field of study (scientific, professional, academic, etc.) will be wellcome.  

Other sections. The Journal includes other sections (Editorials, Reviews, Consensus Documents and Continuing Education: Physiology, Diagnostic and Therapeutic Methods) where papers are invited.

Potentially the Journal can publish other sections like Clinicopathologic Conferences, Technology Today, Book Comments and Special Articles where papers are invited ones.

The autors who spontaneously wish to collaborate in some of these sections should address the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal.  

Papers structure and presentation:

Three copies of each manuscript must be sent to the First Associate Editor, ENDOCRINOLOGÍA y NUTRICIÓN, Ediciones Doyma, S.A., Travesera de Gracia, 17-21, 2.^a plants, 08021 Barcelona, with a cover letter signed by all authors requesting the evaluation for publication in one of the sections of the journal. The letter must include the following sentences: "the authors accept that in case of publication, the paper will remain ENDOCRINOLOGÍA y NUTRICIÓN property and that its total or partial reproduction will require the permission of the publishers" and "the authors state that at the submission of the paper there is no economic conflict of interest in relation to it". In case that one or more of the authors understand that there is a potential conflict of interest, they should communicate it to The Editors who will evaluate it an decide upon its importance and the need to include a reference in the paper, if it is accepted for publication. A diskette version needs not to be included in the first submission of a manuscript. However, it is encouraged in the submission of revised manuscripts.

Manuscritps from Ibero-America can be sent to the Associate Editor for Ibero-America: Dra. C. Bazan, Rivadaria, 226, ground floor "A", Tucumán, República Argentina; Fax: [phone]; or the First Associate Editor in Barcelona.

Papers published or simultaneously submitted to another journal will not be accepted.

Papers must be typed double-spaced in ISO A4 sheets of hight quality paper.

Page number should go in the superior right corner.

The manuscript style must be clear and concise. Papers written in English have to be carefully supervised by experts in the scientific use of this language.

Each part of the manuscript has to begin in a new page, with the following order:  

1. In the first page of all articles the following information has to be included in the following order: a) title of the article; b) full name of the autors; c) name and full address of the center where the work has been performed; d) 3-10 keywords to facilitate indexing, and e) address for correspondence, reprints, request and other specifications.  

2. Text. Papers will be divided in sections, accordings to the following scheme:  

­ Originals and Brief Communications: Summary, Introduction, Material and Methods, Results, Discussion and References.

­ Clinical Notes: Summary, Introduction, Case Report, Comments and References.

­ Reviews: Review and References.  

2.1. Summary. It should not be longer than 250 words. It should be self-understandable without requiring partial or full reading of the paper. Original articles require and structured abstract including the following sections: Background, Methods, Results and Conclusions, which should be named in this way. It should not include material or data not mentioned in the paper. Whenever a summary is required, both an English an Spanish version should be provided.  

2.2. Introduction. It will be as brief as possible and the basic rule is to provide only the essential information to allow understanding the text which follows. It will include the aim of the study.

2.3. Material and Methods. 

2.3.1. The selection of experimentation or observation subjects, either patients or laboratory animals should be clearly described including the controls. It is necessary to indicate that the methods were in agreement with the ethical guidelines of the Experimentation Committee of the institution where the work was performed or with the declaration of Helsinki of 1975. For Clinical Trials the approval of the hospital Clinical Trials Committee should be specifically stated.  

2.3.2. The methods and equipment used (name of the manufacturer with the city and country of origin in parenthesis) should be identified, with sufficient detail so that other investigators can reproduce the results. For usual methods including statistical ones a reference should be include; for unusual ones a brief description in addition to the reference should be provided; and for new methods or those including substantial modifications a detailed description, the reasons for its use and an evaluation of their limitations should be provided. Special care should be put in the selection of statistical methods. All the drugs and chemicals should be accurately identified, including generic name(s), dose(s) and route(s) of administration. The names of the patients, their initials or identification numbers cannot be used.  

2.4. Results. They relate but do not interpreted the results observed with the Material and Methods used. The data in tables and figures should not be included in full in the text; only the most important observations have to be highlighted. In spanish, the decimal signb is "," whereas the thousand indicator is "."  

2.5. Discussion. The data presented in the Results section should not to be repeated. The newest and most important aspects of the study are the ones to be highlighted with conclusions being concordant to the text in this section. The observations should be pertinent to the aims of the study, but not sufficiently based affirmations as well as conclusions not supported in full by the study results should be avoided. The implications of the findings and their limitations as well as their agreement or not with other studies should be included and reasoned.  

2.6. Acknowledgments. Only persosns who have made substantial contributions to the study should be mentioned. The authors are responsible for obtaining the written permission to do it, since these acknowledgments imply the endorsement of the data and conclusions.

2.7. References. All the references must be cited in the text of the paper. They must be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. In the text the references are indicated as superscript Arabic numbers with or without the name of the authors; when they are mentioned, both of them are mentioned if their number is not higher than two in which case only the first one is mentioned followed by expression et al.

Journal names abbreviations should be in accordance with the format used in Index Medicus. A "List of Indexed Journals" is included in the January issue of Index Medicus and consultation for individual names can be performed at: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/PubMed/jbrowser.html . The use of imprecise sentences or expressions like "unpublished observations" or "personal communication" as references is not allowed. Personal communications (written, not verbal) can be included in the text. Papers accepted for publication but not yet published can be included as in press with the name of the journal, followed by "(in press)". The submitted but not yet accepted papers will be mentioned in the text as "(unpublished observations)". References must be verified with original documents. Examples of reference formats are provided.  

Journal

Article of standard journal. If the autors are six or less, all of them will be mentioned. If they are seven or more, the first six will be mentioned followed by the expression et al.

Solter NA, Wasserman SL. Cold urticaria cold challenge. N Engl J Med 1976; 294: 687-690.  

Anonymous. Epidemiology for primary healt care. Int J Epidemiol 1976; 5: 224-225.  

Books and monographs

Personal autor(s)

Osler AG. Complement mechanisms and functions. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall, 1976.

Corporation

American Medical Association Department of Drugs. AMA drug evaluations (3.^a ed.). Littleton: Publishing Sciences Group, 1977.  

Publisher, compiler, director or author

Rhodes AJ, Van Rooyen CE, comps. Textbook of virology: for students and practitioners of medicine and other health sciences (5.^a ed.). Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1968.  

Book Chapter

Weinstein L, Swartz MN. Pathogenetic properties of invading microorganisms. En: Sodeman WA Jr, Sodeman WA, editores. Pathologic Physiology Mechanisms of disease. Filadelfia: WB Saunders, 1974; 4576-472.

Yalow RS. New insights with radioimmunoassay. Special Lecture Western Association of Physicians. 1 Feb, 1978. Carmel, California.

National Center for Health Statistics. Acute conditions, incidence and associated disability, United States Julio 1968-Junio 1969. Serie 10, N.^o 69, 1972, DHEW pub N.^o 9 HSM) 721036.  

Newspaper articles (nonmedical journals)  

Shaffer RA. Advances in chemistry are starting to unlock mysteries of the brain: Discoveries could help cure alcoholism and insomnia, explain mental illness. The Wall Street Journal 12 August 1997; 1 (col. 1), 10 (col. 1).

3. Figures. Three complete sets of figures should be included. For photographs, it is essential that the quality is excellent in order to allow good copies to be made. The size should be 9 * 12 cm, and opaque bodies (bones, contrast agents, etc.) should be white. Color images can be admitted, provided there is an economic agreement with the authors. In this case, slide submission is recommended.

Photographs should be numbered in the black with a label indicating the title of the paper, the name of the first author and indicating with an arrow the uper part of the figure.

The illustrations (photographs and graphs) will be submitted in an enveloped and should be numbered as figures. The legends should be typed in a separate sheet.  

4. Tables. Each table should go typewritten double-space in a separate sheet, with the corresponding Arabic number and title. All non standard abbreviations should be described in the legend in the same order in which they appear in the table. If the table is longer than a ISO A4 sheet, headings will be repeated in the following sheets. The journal will admit tables that occupy up to a maximum of a printed page.  

5. Abbreviations, symbols and nomenclature. The common abbreviations and symbols will adjust to international norms. Those for more specific terms should be clearly defined in the text. Drugs should be mentioned using their generic and/or chemical names. The nomenclature for chemicals and hormones should follow the recommendations of international committees, i.e.: J Clin Endocrinol Metab 1998; 83(1): 43A-44A.

The Editors will acknowledge the receipt of the papers submitted to the Journal within two weeks of reception.

All papers submitted to the Journal, Reviews and Editorials included will be evaluated by The Editors and submitted to two experts. Following the opinions of both of them, The Editors retain the right to reject papers not deemed to be adequate and to suggest modifications. The average time for The Editors to communicate its judgment on a paper is about three months.

The author or first author will receive the galley proofs for correction when the article is in press. He/she will try to send them back to the Editor-in-Chief within 48 hours.

The author or first author will receive 25 reprints of the paper after its publication. In the case that a higher number or reprints is required he/she will have to communicate it to the Publisher at the reception of the galley proofs.