All corresponding authors should complete the google form link (Number of authors, Name of each author in order, affiliation, email contact and gender, title of paper, section) AND subsequently the paper as a word doc and a PDF to email
Corresponding authors should submit a cover letter, indicating that the paper is original and is not under consideration for publication in any other journal
All submissions must specify the specific section (call) to which they are to be considered
All authors must meet the ICMJE criteria
Abstract: maximum 300 words, with the headings: Introduction, Methods, Results, Key words
Main article maximum word count: 3,000 words; consisting of Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusion sections.
A maximum of 2 figures and 2 tables will be accepted, they must be clear and labeled
Use a numbered superscript referencing style and a citation management tool such as Zotero
All papers must include a statement on ethics approval, author contributions, acknowledgement, conflict of interest, funding and consent for publication (at the end of the paper)
Use Times New Roman, font 11 or 12, line spacing 1.5
Do not include a header or a footer
All papers will be published under creative commons license CC-BY-NC-SA 4.0.
Preparing your manuscript
This section provides general style and formatting information only. Formatting guidelines for specific article types can be found below.
Quick points:
Use double line spacing
Include line and page numbering
Use SI units: Please ensure that all special characters used are embedded in the text, otherwise they will be lost during conversion to PDF
Do not use page breaks in your manuscript
The following word processor file formats are acceptable for the main manuscript document:
Microsoft word (DOC, DOCX)
Rich text format (RTF)
TeX/LaTeX
Please note: editable files are required for processing in production. If your manuscript contains any non-editable files (such as PDFs) you will be required to re-submit an editable file when you submit your revised manuscript, or after editorial acceptance in case no revision is necessary.
You are encouraged to use the Springer Nature LaTeX template when preparing a submission. A PDF of your manuscript files will be compiled during submission using pdfLaTeX and TexLive 2021.
All relevant editable source files must be uploaded during the submission process. Failing to submit these source files will cause unnecessary delays in the production process.
Improving your written English
Presenting your work in well-written English gives it its best chance for editors and reviewers to understand it and evaluate it fairly.
We have some editing services that can help you to get your writing ready for submission.
When preparing figures, please follow the formatting instructions below.
Figures should be numbered in the order they are first mentioned in the text, and uploaded in this order. Multi-panel figures (those with parts a, b, c, d etc.) should be submitted as a single composite file that contains all parts of the figure.
Figures should be uploaded in the correct orientation.
Figure titles (max 15 words) and legends (max 300 words) should be provided in the main manuscript, not in the graphic file.
Figure keys should be incorporated into the graphic, not into the legend of the figure.
Each figure should be closely cropped to minimize the amount of white space surrounding the illustration. Cropping figures improves accuracy when placing the figure in combination with other elements when the accepted manuscript is prepared for publication on our site. For more information on individual figure file formats, see our detailed instructions.
Individual figure files should not exceed 10 MB. If a suitable format is chosen, this file size is adequate for extremely high quality figures.
Please note that it is the responsibility of the author(s) to obtain permission from the copyright holder to reproduce figures (or tables) that have previously been published elsewhere. In order for all figures to be open access, authors must have permission from the rights holder if they wish to include images that have been published elsewhere in non open access journals. Permission should be indicated in the figure legend, and the original source included in the reference list.
We accept the following file formats for figures:
EPS (suitable for diagrams and/or images)
PDF (suitable for diagrams and/or images)
Microsoft Word (suitable for diagrams and/or images, figures must be a single page)
PowerPoint (suitable for diagrams and/or images, figures must be a single page)
TIFF (suitable for images)
JPEG (suitable for photographic images, less suitable for graphical images)
PNG (suitable for images)
BMP (suitable for images)
CDX (ChemDraw - suitable for molecular structures)
For information and suggestions of suitable file formats for specific figure types, please see our author academy.
Figures are resized during publication of the final full text and PDF versions to conform to the BioMed Central standard dimensions, which are detailed below.
Figures on the web:
width of 600 pixels (standard), 1200 pixels (high resolution).
Figures in the final PDF version:
width of 85 mm for half page width figure
width of 170 mm for full page width figure
maximum height of 225 mm for figure and legend
image resolution of approximately 300 dpi (dots per inch) at the final size
Figures should be designed such that all information, including text, is legible at these dimensions. All lines should be wider than 0.25 pt when constrained to standard figure widths. All fonts must be embedded.
Figure file compression
Vector figures should if possible be submitted as PDF files, which are usually more compact than EPS files.
TIFF files should be saved with LZW compression, which is lossless (decreases file size without decreasing quality) in order to minimize upload time.
JPEG files should be saved at maximum quality.
Conversion of images between file types (especially lossy formats such as JPEG) should be kept to a minimum to avoid degradation of quality.
If you have any questions or are experiencing a problem with figures, please contact the customer service team at info@biomedcentral.com.
When preparing tables, please follow the formatting instructions below.
Tables should be numbered and cited in the text in sequence using Arabic numerals (i.e. Table 1, Table 2 etc.).
Tables less than one A4 or Letter page in length can be placed in the appropriate location within the manuscript.
Tables larger than one A4 or Letter page in length can be placed at the end of the document text file. Please cite and indicate where the table should appear at the relevant location in the text file so that the table can be added in the correct place during production.
Larger datasets, or tables too wide for A4 or Letter landscape page can be uploaded as additional files. Please see [below] for more information.
Tabular data provided as additional files can be uploaded as an Excel spreadsheet (.xls ) or comma separated values (.csv). Please use the standard file extensions.
Table titles (max 15 words) should be included above the table, and legends (max 300 words) should be included underneath the table.
Tables should not be embedded as figures or spreadsheet files, but should be formatted using ‘Table object’ function in your word processing program.
Color and shading may not be used. Parts of the table can be highlighted using superscript, numbering, lettering, symbols or bold text, the meaning of which should be explained in a table legend.
Commas should not be used to indicate numerical values.
If you have any questions or are experiencing a problem with tables, please contact the customer service team at info@biomedcentral.com.
As the length and quantity of data is not restricted for many article types, authors can provide datasets, tables, movies, or other information as additional files.
All Additional files will be published along with the accepted article. Do not include files such as patient consent forms, certificates of language editing, or revised versions of the main manuscript document with tracked changes. Such files, if requested, should be sent by email to the journal’s editorial email address, quoting the manuscript reference number. Please do not send completed patient consent forms unless requested.
Results that would otherwise be indicated as "data not shown" should be included as additional files. Since many web links and URLs rapidly become broken, BioMed Central requires that supporting data are included as additional files, or deposited in a recognized repository. Please do not link to data on a personal/departmental website. Do not include any individual participant details. The maximum file size for additional files is 20 MB each, and files will be virus-scanned on submission. Each additional file should be cited in sequence within the main body of text.
If additional material is provided, please list the following information in a separate section of the manuscript text:
File name (e.g. Additional file 1)
File format including the correct file extension for example .pdf, .xls, .txt, .pptx (including name and a URL of an appropriate viewer if format is unusual)
Title of data
Description of data
Additional files should be named "Additional file 1" and so on and should be referenced explicitly by file name within the body of the article, e.g. 'An additional movie file shows this in more detail [see Additional file 1]'.
For further guidance on how to use Additional files or recommendations on how to present particular types of data or information, please see How to use additional files.