Instruction for Authors
1. Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría will give preference to the publication of papers related to the field of psychiatry.
2. Papers submitted for publication must be original and must not have been previously published elsewhere. The authors agree that they have read and approved the manuscript. A section detailing the contributions of each author to the manuscript must be included. Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría declines any responsibility regarding possible conflicts derived from authorship of the papers published in the journal. Ethical Responsibilities - Protection of Persons and Animals. When describing experiments intended for human subjects, it should be indicated whether the procedures followed have been approved by the corresponding Ethics Committee, and whether they adhere to the recommendations of the World Medical Association's Declaration of Helsinki. When experiments in animals are described, it should be indicated if the guidelines of an institution or council of international research or a national law regulating care and use of laboratory animals have been followed. When describing clinical trials, it should be specified whether a registration identifier has been registered on the clinical trial registry platform.
The authors are responsible for obtaining the permissions to reproduce in Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría any type of material that has been previously published. Said permissions must be requested from the author and/or publishing company that has published said material and should be attached to the manuscript. For inquiries, please contact editorial@actaspsiquiatria.es.
3. Authors are recommended to adhere to the minimum reporting guidelines hosted by the EQUATOR Network when preparing their manuscript. Papers sent to the Journal should be included in one of the following categories:
- Article. Original research manuscripts must conform to the following format: Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusions. Original articles must be original and have clinical impact. During the peer review, the quality and impact of the study will be taken into account. There is no fixed word limit for research articles, but authors must use the most concise language possible, as well as succinct, structured sentences.
The abstract should be structured as the following subheadings (usually into four paragraphs): Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions, unless specified otherwise in the reporting checklists, with a word count ranging from 200 to 400. In addition, the number of keywords is 3 to 5, and the maximum number of figures and tables (together) is 15.
- Review. Review articles are comprehensive overviews of a specific hot topic aligned with addressing the aims and hypothesis through the literature. This includes structured, specific and comprehensive systematic, critical or bibliographic reviews on subjects or areas related to the disciplines covered by the Journal with a word limit of 3000-8000 words (including only the main body of the text, that is, not counting the tables, figures, summaries or references).
The number of words in the abstract needs to be controlled between 200 and 350, and the number of keywords needs to be controlled between 3 and 5. Papers exceeding this limit will be evaluated by the editorial board to determine if they can be published in their current state, with some papers divided across successive issues if necessary.
- Systematic Review. The Systematic Review papers encompass meta-syntheses, meta-analyses, mapping reviews, scoping reviews, systematic reviews, and systematic reviews with a meta-analysis. Authors are encouraged to complete the flow diagram and include it with their submission. For the Systematic Review papers, there is a word limit of 3000-8000 words (including an abstract but excluding references, tables, and figures). The number of words in the abstract needs to be controlled between 200 and 350, and the number of keywords needs to be controlled between 3 and 5.
The article is required to explicitly state compliance with the PRISMA or MOOSE standard and checklist, with the checklist provided as an online supplement. PRISMA should be the foundation for conducting systematic reviews of RCTs, whereas MOOSE is recommended for systematic reviews of observational studies.
- Case Report. Reports on clinical observations are particularly interesting due to their novel contribution to clinical knowledge and therapeutic management of specific medical conditions. Maximum extension permitted is 2500 words. Authors are encouraged to prepare manuscripts in accordance with CARE guidelines. Only cases that exhibit exceptional interest and novelty are taken into consideration. In cases where manuscripts fail to meet these criteria, editors may request that the authors shorten the manuscript for resubmission as another type of article.
It is imperative to include an ethical statement verifying the acquisition of written consent from the subject (or their parent/guardian).
- Letter. Comments on recent publications or current issues, not exceeding a word count of 1500.
- Editorial. Editorials are opinion articles from the editor or an invited author. When contributed by an invited author, editorials may introduce the subject being brought into focus in a special issue or thematic section with a maximum extension of 1000 words (excluding references, tables, and figures). An abstract is not required. The maximum number of references is 15, and the combined maximum number of figures and tables is 1.
They ought to be concise and centered, ensuring a clear and direct message. The body of the Editorial can be continuous text or structured into distinct subsections. Editorials on topics of current interest are encouraged.
4. Submission
Manuscripts should be submitted as Microsoft Word files in 12-point Times New Roman font with 1.5 line spacing. Papers must be written in English. For each author, please provide the full name and surname, affiliation (including complete address information: city, zip code, state/province, and country), and the corresponding author's email address. This information will be published in the journal to facilitate communication between readers and authors.
For Original Articles, the abstract should be structured as Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusion, briefly describing the content of each section. Four to six keywords related to the subject in each paper must be added in all the papers.
The text should be organized as follows: Introduction, Data and Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusions. Authors are free to choose second-level headings. In most cases, this structure is not required for Review Articles, Case Reports and Letters to the Editor.
Manuscripts can include tables and figures, which should be presented on pages separate from the text. Tables and figures must have an explanatory footnote and corresponding Arabic number in order of appearance in the text, separately for the tables and figures.
Figures must have the number and explanatory text in the same document as well as the name and surname of the first author. Figures should be sent as a separate file, in TIFF or JPEG format, preferably with minimum resolution of 300 dpi.
Acknowledgments. The entities or institutions that have financed or collaborated in the work should be included. Mention the registry number and financing entity or institution for research projects.
Conflicts of interest. Authors must disclose any relationships between each one of the authors and with any public or private bodies that could result in a conflict of interest.
5. References
The reference list is sorted numerically. The reference list should be limited to only those citations essential to the presentation. Please use [numbers] for the references in the text. Each reference should contain the following information: the first 6 authors followed by “et al.” if there are more than 6; title of the article, the standard journal title; year; volume (issue number in parentheses), and corresponding page numbers (do not abbreviate the page number).
Examples:
Articles: Gili M, Lopez-Navarro E, Homar C, Castro A, García-Toro M, Llobera J, et al. Psychometric properties of Spanish version of QIDS-SR16 in depressive patients. Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría. 2014;42: 292-299.
Books: Ketter TA. Advances in Treatment of Bipolar Disorders. Arlington, VA: American Psychiatric Publishing; 2015.
Book chapter: Figueroa Quintana A, Soutullo Esperón C, Hernández Otero I. Depresión, Antidepresivos y Suicidio: Riesgos y beneficios de los ISRS. In Soutullo C (ed. ) Majadahonda: Comunicación y Ediciones Sanitarias (pp. 115-141). Spanish Scientific: Madrid. 2013.
Electronic material: Moore A. Paracetamol: widely used and largely ineffective. 2018. Available at: http://uk.cochrane.org/news/paracetamol-widely-used-and-largely-ineffective (Accessed: 23 May 2018).
6. Peer review
Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría uses a review system consisting of anonymous submissions to designated reviewers. After receiving the article, the Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría editorial committee makes an initial assessment of it. Its content is then checked to be of interest and in keeping with the editorial line and proven scientific facts published in each issue. When an article passes this initial internal review process, each manuscript is then submitted for peer review by at least two independent experts who evaluate both the appropriateness of the article content, as well as the scientific quality of the submitted text. They then provide the authors with their review conclusions. Both reviewers and authors will always be anonymous and their identity will never be disclosed. The Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría editorial committee always decides if the article is acceptable for publication or if it is going to be rejected. Editors will never take part in this process if the articles have been written by themselves or by a family member of the editorial team or its research groups; or even if there is a close professional relationship between the author and the parties involved in the editorial process. Articles are reviewed anonymously by other independent reviewers in all cases. If there is any conflict of interest between an editor and the article content, Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría ensures the review is carried out independently, and selects reviewers other than the usual editors; resulting in a review process free of any conflict.
7. Informed consent and patient information
When articles are based on studies involving patients or volunteers, written informed consent should be obtained from participants (or their parents/legal guardians if applicable), along with appropriate ethical approval. A detailed statement should be included in the manuscript to comply with all relevant laws and regulations regarding personal information privacy and/or security. If the text of the article includes any personal details of patients, or images of them or of other people for publishing in Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría, the author must have their permission, consent and any assignment rights necessary for this. The author must keep a written consent record, although it is not necessary to send this to Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría. If a legal conflict is envisaged, the author must provide this information if required, as well as copies of it or evidence that the relevant consent has been obtained. All images must belong to the authors or have necessary consent for publication in Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría. Formal consent is not required for the use of entirely anonymous images, such as X-rays, ultrasound images, pathology slides, or laparoscopic images, provided they do not contain identifying marks or accompanying text that may identify individuals.
8. Editorial process
On receipt of the work, the principal author will receive acknowledgment of receipt, and the manuscript will be sent immediately to the Editorial Board for evaluation and to external reviewers named by the Board for its evaluation. Following the evaluation, the primary author will be informed of the outcome regarding the acceptance for publication, along with any suggested modifications. Once the final version of a manuscript has been accepted for publication, the author will receive galley proofs for final corrections. These should be returned to the journal no later than 2 days after reception.
9. Corrections, expressions of concern and retractions
Upon publication, should revisions to the final version be deemed necessary, the journal's editorial team will undertake careful consideration, with the approval of the editor-in-chief, to ensure adherence to the journal's policies and the guidelines outlined by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE). Any requisite alterations will be accompanied by a post-publication notice, which will be permanently linked to the original article. These modifications may include correction notices, expressions of concern, retractions, and in very rare cases, deletions. This practice of linking post-publication notices to the original article serves to uphold transparency regarding any changes made and safeguard the integrity of the academic record.
10. Misconduct
Upon receipt of direct allegations of misconduct from informants, Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría will adhere strictly to the procedures outlined by COPE. Upon identification of concerns regarding ethical misconduct, the editorial committee will promptly initiate an investigation following COPE guidelines. Throughout ongoing investigations or while awaiting resolution, if the evidence remains inconclusive, Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría may opt to issue expressions of concern to notify readers of the situation. In the event that the investigation confirms misconduct, Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría will promptly issue a retraction notice, which will be published in the journal. The article's record will be updated accordingly to reflect the retraction, and it will be clearly marked as such in the journal's archives. Furthermore, relevant indexes will be revised to indicate the retraction.
11. Article processing charge
All articles published in Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría are freely accessible online upon publication. Upon acceptance of a manuscript, Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría will charge a €1500 Article Processing Charge (APC) and will not accept refunds of any kind. For waivers or discounts, please contact the journal editorial office before submitting your manuscript. Further payment information can be obtained by contacting the editorial office.
12. Transfer of copyright
All articles accepted will become the permanent property of Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría and cannot be reproduced, in whole or in part, without the express permission. Once an article has been accepted, authors transfer the exclusive rights of reproduction, distribution, translation, and publication of their work to the Actas Españolas de Psiquiatría.
