Folia Pharmaceutica Cassoviensia - Instructions for Authors
THEMATIC FOCUS OF THE JOURNAL
Folia Pharmaceutica Cassoviensia is a scientific journal established in 2019 and published by the University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, the Slovak Republic. It is issued quarterly and publishes original research manuscripts presenting the recent knowledge in the pharmaceutical and biomedicinal field, review articles and case reports related to pharmaceutical and clinical practice. In addition, the journal publishes also short communications aimed at rapid publication of knowledge related to current scientific issues and discoveries in the field of pharmacy and medicine and relevant book or article reviews. The journal does not publish reports on scientific events and unsolicited reviews.
The authors are responsible for the originality of the submitted manuscript, correctness of its content and warrant that the submitted article or its parts have not been published before nor were sent for publication elsewhere.
Authors are requested to submit their manuscript electronically using MS Word text processor format or RTF format.
Publication of the submitted manuscripts in the journal is subject to decision of the editorial board, based on reviews of at least two anonymous reviewers. The articles accepted for publication are sent to the authors together with reviewer’s comments for potential completing or rewriting. The author returns the reworked article to the editorial office together with written statement concerning suggestions and comments of the reviewers. Decision of the editorial board about acceptance or rejection of the article is final.
The journal does not have article processing charges nor article submission charges.
GENERAL PRINCIPLES
The journal publishes articles in Slovak, Czech or English language. If the article is written in other than English language, the title, abstract and key words should be written also in English.
The complete set of the manuscript, including photographs, illustrations, tables and graphs should be sent in an electronic form to the following e-mail address: folia.pharma@uvlf.sk.
Editorial board maintains the option of returning, before evaluation, manuscripts to authors who do not comply with these instructions.
The manuscript (including graphs, tables, etc.) should be typed uniformly (Times New Roman, 12-point font, 1.5 spacing, margins of 2.5 cm, full justification).
When submitting an article, the authors are required to attach declaration that their article is original, has not been published before nor was sent for publication elsewhere.
If a study evaluates a pharmaceutical product, a medical or scientific equipment/device, or any other commercial manufacture, the authors must disclose, in a confidential covering letter to the editor, any and every financial interest they may have in the company that manufactures the product discussed or in a rival firm.
Units of Measurement. Throughout the article, use only the international system of units (SI). Any other units must be explained and defined.
Abbreviations and Symbols. When using physical or physico-chemical symbols, the use of IUPAC Manual of Symbols and Terminology for Physicochemical Quantities and Units (Pergamon Press, Oxford, 1993) is obligatory. Use only standard abbreviations. Avoid abbreviations in the title and abstract. Abbreviations should be used only if they are repeated frequently. The full term in parentheses for which an abbreviation stands should appear at its first use in the text unless it is a standard unit of measurement.
Nomenclature and Terminology. Standard Slovak terminology should be used in the text in accordance with the relevant IUPAC recommendations. Detailed instructions for the text written in English are provided in IUPAC publications: Brief Guide to the Nomenclature of Inorganic Chemistry IUPAC 2015, Pure App. Chem. 87, 1039−1049, © IUPAC & De Gruyter 2015 and Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry, IUPAC Recommendations and Preferred Names 2013, Royal Society of Chemistry, Cambridge 2014. The authors should avoid to new trivial names. The names of new compounds should comply with systemic nomenclature according to IUPAC.
When mentioning compounds isolated from natural sources, Latin name of the source is presented (e.g. plant gender and species) and the respective family. Drugs are presented using the INN name in Slovak, Czech or English mutation, according to the language of the article itself. If the pharmacopoeia name is available, this name is preferred, but acceptable are both versions.
Examples: paracetamol (not acetaminophen), bisphosphonate (not biphosphonate), adrenalin/pharmacopoeia (not epinephrine/INN), hydroxycarbamine (not hydroxyurea), kromoglycan (not chromoglycan), cholestyramine (not colestyramine, kolestyramine), lítium (lithium), manitol (not mannitol).
Latin terms need to be italicized.
Photographs, Illustrations and Figures. As this part is electronically subject to change and mishaps, we recommend sending photographs, figures and graphs also in separate files and indicate in the text where these should be placed. The images should have minimum resolution of 300 dpi and should be clear and sharp. Because of technical complications which can arise by converting colour figures to “gray scale” please submit your figures and illustrations in version suitable for black and white print. In the journal, figures and illustrations will have an overall width of no more than 8.5 cm and be drawn on pages 17.5 cm wide and thus the size of the letters in legends should suit these dimensions. Ensure that figures and illustrations are numbered consecutively and each figure or illustration has a caption. Supply caption and number separately, not on the photo itself. Each caption should comprise a number and a brief title describing the illustration/figure/graph and should be placed above the figure or illustration/photograph. The text related to the content and, if appropriate, also the source (legend), should be placed below the illustration/figure/graph. Photomicrographs must state the magnification and stain technique. The main objects, changes, and findings should be shown by an arrow or some other symbol explained in the legend.
If it is not author’s own picture/photograph, the source should be stated in the legend.
Tables should be numbered consecutively, in accordance with their appearance in the text, and contain essential data not given in the text. Place number and title above the table and footnotes (legend) below the table body – explanation of symbols/abbreviations used in the table including statistics. Within each table, horizontal and vertical lines should be used to help the readers to orientate themselves in the displayed data.
Ethical Considerations. When reporting experiments on animals indicate whether they were approved by the relevant ethical commission and whether the legislative provisions set for the respective field were observed. Provide the number of permit issued by the State Veterinary and Food Administration of SR or other relevant body. In articles describing clinical studies it is necessary to state whether the study was approved by the relevant ethical commission.
Statistics. Describe statistical methods with enough detail to enable a knowledgeable reader with access to the original data to verify the results reported.
STRUCTURE OF MANUSCRIPTS
Each manuscript should be thematically complete. The recommended extent of specialized (original) article is 12 pages, of review article 15 pages and of case report 7 pages.
The text of each manuscript should be headed with full title in Slovak or Czech, followed by the title in English. The title should accurately and concisely describe the topic (bold, upper-case letters, size 14, centred). Then the surname(s) and initials of the author(s) should appear and below them the name and place(s) of their employment (institution) and state. Below this, divided by one blank line, the e-mail address of the first or the corresponding author should follow (all centred).
The empirically oriented studies should be divided into the subsections with the following headings: ABSTRACT, INTRODUCTION, MATERIALS AND METHODS, RESULTS, DISCUSSION, CONCLUSIONS (ACKNOWLEDGEMENT), REFERENCES.
Each heading should appear on its own separate line (bold, upper-case letters, size 12) with one blank line above and below each heading. Each paragraph in the text should be indented.
ABSTRACT
Abstract in English is required (bold, lower-case letters). It should not exceed 250 words. The abstract should briefly incorporate the purpose and relevance of study, basic procedures, the main findings, and principal conclusions. It should emphasize new and important aspects of the study or observations.
Key words: below the relevant abstract, separated by one blank line, key words (3−10) should be listed in alphabetical order, in Slovak or Czech or in English. They should be written in lower-case, bold, and separated by semi-colons.
INTRODUCTION
Present brief description of the background and available data relevant to the article topic. Instead of detailed literature survey give only strictly pertinent references and do not include data or conclusions from the study being reported. At the end of the introduction state the objective of your study.
MATERIAL AND METHODS
Present detailed description and characterization of the objects of your observation/experiments, including control(s).
Identify the methods, apparatus(es) (with the manufacturer's name and address in parentheses), and procedures in sufficient detail for other workers to reproduce the experiment. Quote established methods, provide references and brief descriptions for the methods that have been published but are not well known. Describe new or substantially modified methods in full, give reasons for using them, and evaluate their potential limitations. Precisely identify all drugs and chemicals used, including generic name, dose, and route of administration.
Provide full information on the statistical methods and measures used in the research.
RESULTS
When presenting results, use the international system of units (SI).
This subsection should be as succinct as possible and the results should be presented in a logical sequence in the text, using figures and well-arranged tables. Emphasize or summarize only the important observations in the text and do not duplicate all the data presented in the figures and tables. Results of statistical analysis (level of significance) should be provided in the tables where appropriate.
DISCUSSION
Emphasize the new and important aspects of the study and the conclusions that follow from them. Do not repeat in detail the data or other material given in the Introduction or the Results sections. Include in the Discussion section the implications of the findings and the limitations, together with their significance for future research. Relate the observations to other relevant studies.
CONCLUSIONS
Link the conclusions with the aims of the study, but avoid unqualified statements and conclusions not completely supported by the data. Recommendations, when appropriate, may be included.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
(In italics) Authors may decide to express their thanks for any relevant assistance or support (grants, special analyses, technical support, etc.)
REFERENCES
All references included in this list must be cited in the text and vice versa.
The references should appear in alphabetical order (by the first author's surname), each presented on a new line and indented. Surnames and initials of all authors should be given. Authors should not use an excessive number of citations to support one point.
The authors are required to use only references from verified and peer-reviewed sources from worldwide accepted scientific databases.
In the text, the surname of the author(s) and the year of publication is used for citations. The conjunctions to be used in articles written in the Slovak and Czech languages are “a” and “a kol.” and in English “and” and “at al.”. Multiple citations should appear in alphabetical order.
The style and punctuation of the references should follow the format described and illustrated below:
Journal (scientific/specialized):
Surname(s) and initial(s) of the author(s), full title of the paper, title of the journal (in italics), year of publication, volume, and relevant pages. The issue number should be quoted in parentheses only if the pagination of the journal is by issue rather than by volume. Abbreviated name of the journal can be used as provided in the ISO standard list of journal abbreviations. ISSN number is not required.
Bagirova, V. L., Miťkina, L. I.: Determination of Tartrazine in drugs. Pharm. Chem. J., 2003, 37, 558–559.
Book (edited, without editors):
Surname(s) and initial(s) of the author(s) of the cited part of book, authors/editors of the book, full title of the book (in italics), edition (if not the first) place of publication, publisher, year of publication, total number of pages or cited pages. ISBN number is not required.
Choi, C. K., Dong, M. W.: Chapter 5 – Sample preparation for HPLC analysis of drug products. In Ahuja, S., Dong, M. W. (Eds.): Handbook of Pharmaceutical Analysis by HPLC. United Kingdom, Elsevier, 2005, 123–144.
Podczeck, F., Jones, B. E.: Pharmaceutical Capsules, 2nd edn., Pharmaceutical Press, 2004, 66–67.
Conference proceedings:
Surname(s) and initial(s) of the author(s), full title of the paper, title of the proceedings/conference (in italics), place and date of the event, year of publication, total number of pages or cited pages.
Canganella, F., Balsamo, R.: Isolation and selection of probiotic microorganisms with antagonistic activity against Paenicibacillus larvae and Paenicibacillus alvei. In Proceedings of the International Probiotic Conference: Probiotics for the 3rd Millenium, High Tatras, Slovakia, June 4–7, 2008, 28–29.
Online journal:
Simon, J. A., Hudes, E. S.: Relationship of ascorbic acid to blood lead levels. JAMA 1999, 281, 2289–2293. http://url. Accessed July 11, 2009.
Online website:
King, M. W.: The Medical Biochemistry Page.
http://themedicalbiochemistrypage.org. Updated July 14, 2009. Accessed July 14, 2009.
REVIEW ARTICLES
These should provide a substantial survey of important aspects related to pharmaceutical and medical fields with relevant historical perspective. The following structure is recommended:
TITLE/AUTHORS – keep the title (also in English) concise and informative.
ABSTRACT (in English) – inform about the objectives and results of the review article. 3−10 key words are required.
INTRODUCTION – provide information about the context, indicate the motivation for the review, define the focus, the research questions and explain the text structure.
MATERIAL AND METHODS – describe/summarise the methods used for locating, obtaining, selecting, and synthesizing data.
Main part of the review article – use relevant headings.
CONCLUSION – Answer the research questions set in the introduction.
REFERENCES - Acknowledge the work of other scientists. Compulsory to avoid charges of plagiarism. Avoid using more than 100 references.
CLINICAL CASE STUDIES
Published are also articles that present reports about extraordinary cases related to certain medicinal drugs, compounds or mixtures and their unusual effect, or describe an interesting case, disease and similar.
The recommendations for the structure of case reports are as follows:
TITLE/AUTHORS: the title (also in English) should be concise and informative.
ABSTRACT (in English) – should be a short version of the whole paper, 3−10 key words are required.
INTRODUCTION – states reasons for presentation of the case.
CASE(S) PRESENTATION – the main part of the case report – it presents the course, treatment, prognosis and termination of the case.
DISCUSSION – stresses the interesting aspects of the case.
CONCLUSION – described is the relationship between the aims and the findings/observations.
REFERENCES
REVIEW(S)
Published are also critical reviews of specialised written works (books, articles) containing justifiable evaluation. The recommended structure is as follows:
BASIC INFORMATION – presented is the full title of a book (article, journal), names of author(s) (surnames, initials), place of publication, publisher, year of publication, number of pages, recommended price, ISBN number.
CONTENTS OF THE BOOK (ARTICLE, JOURNAL) – reviewer provides important information, for example the aspects of the book (article, journal) that he/she found interesting or disappointing.
IMPORTANCE OF THE BOOK (ARTICLE, JOURNAL) – its use by (contribution to) professional public.