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. 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. Papers sent to the Journal should be included in one of the four following categories:
- Original Articles. Original research papers having a maximum extension of 6000 words (this only includes the main body of the text, that is, not counting the tables, figures, summaries or references).
- Review Articles. 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 maximum extension of 8000 words (including only main body of the text, that is, not counting the tables, figures, summaries or references). 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.
- Case Reports. Reports on clinical observations that are particularly interesting due to their novel contribution to clinical knowledge and therapeutic management of specific medical conditions. Maximum extension permitted is 2500 words.
- Letters to the Editor. Comments on recent publications or current issues with a maximum extension of 1500 words.
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 6 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. Propiedades psicométricas de la versión española de la escala QIDS-SR16 en pacientes con trastorno depresivo. 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. 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.
10. 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.