Brief Reports

This may include clinical case series (generally related to 3 or more cases of an uncommon disorder or rare complication of a more common disease), which are reports or preliminary findings not meriting a full paper, or interesting basic science findings related to a clinical presentation that yields fundamental insights or new understanding about a disease or disease process. Potential submissions not meeting these criteria may be discussed with the Editor for consideration. Please note that this category should not be confused with case reports, which follows a different format and is listed separately.

Guideline word limit: 1 500 words

  • Abstract: unstructured of up to 150 words
  • May include only one insert (illustration or table that may be in montage format). 
  • A  maximum of 10 key references.

Authors are requested to suggest 2 expert reviewers who are qualified to assess the merit of the submitted work.  The suggested reviewers should not have any conflicts of interest with any of the co-authors.  Conflicts of interest include:

  1. Suggested reviewers from the same institution.
  2. Suggested reviewers that have been co-authors with any of the investigators/ authors on original publications within the last 5 years.
  3. Suggested reviewers that are currently or have been co-investigators, or co-applicants, on grant awards within the last 5 years.
  4. Any type of relationship or link that might constitute a potential conflict of interest (e.g. longstanding friend, a relative, common interest in a business venture or scientific endeavour, etc.)

Thus, suggested reviewers should be independent enough so as to give an unbiased opinion of the submitted work.  Two suggested reviewers are mandatory, and their names and details (email addresses) should be outlined in the cover letter, which is submitted together with the manuscript.