Manuscript Preparation

Manuscripts should be double-spaced, use Times New Roman, 12-point font, be left aligned, with 1-inch margins, and pages numbered with the title page numbered as page 1. Do not embed author names, dates, fonts, links, footnotes in a hidden field, field codes, bookmarks, comments, hypertext links, passwords, objects, worksheets, databases, artwork, or slides (such as PowerPoint) in the text. Do not use line numbers and do not use double spaces between sentences or paragraphs. Indent paragraphs one half inch. 

The links below may provide guidance on scientific writing and style.

The Kansas Journal of Medicine endorses the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (ICMJE). Please provide the following information when indicated according to the instructions.

  • Authorship: All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship. Include first names of the author, not initials. The order of authorship should be a decision of the co-authors. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content. Authorship credit should be based only on substantial contributions: (l) to conception and design or to analysis and interpretation of data; (2) to drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and (3) to final approval of the version to be published. Authors should meet all three criteria (adapted from ICMJE). For submissions with more than five authors, a statement outlining each author's contribution to the manuscript is required. Original Research, Brief Reports, Quality Improvement, Case Reports, Reviews, and Image submissions must be authored by at least two authors, including at least one author with relevant expertise.
  • Acknowledgements: One or more statements should specify (1) contributions that need acknowledging but do not justify authorship; (2) acknowledgments of technical help; (3) acknowledgments of financial and material support, specifying the nature of the support; and (4) financial relationships that may pose a conflict of interest (adapted from ICMJE).
  • Conflict of Interest: Authors must disclose to the Editor any commercial affiliations that might pose a conflict of interest. These include patent-licensing agreements, stock ownership or other equity interest, consultancies, institutional affiliations, and corporate sponsorship. If your article is accepted for publication, we require each author to submit a ICMJE disclosure form (adapted from ICMJE).
  • Protection of privacy: "Patients have a right to privacy that should not be infringed without informed consent. Identifying information, including patients' names, initials, or hospital numbers, should not be published in written descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication. Informed consent for this purpose requires that a patient who is identifiable be shown the manuscript to be published. When informed consent for publication has been obtained it should be indicated in the published article." (from ICMJE)
  • Protection of human and animal rights: When reporting experiments on human subjects, authors should indicate whether the procedures followed were in accordance with the ethical standards of the responsible committee on human experimentation (institutional and national) and with the Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in 2000 (5). If doubt exists whether the research was conducted in accordance with the Helsinki Declaration, the authors must explain the rationale for their approach and demonstrate that the institutional review body explicitly approved the doubtful aspects of the study. When reporting experiments on animals, authors should indicate whether the institutional and national guidelines for the care and use of laboratory animals was followed (adapted from ICMJE).

Abbreviations and Nomenclature: Authors should follow the AMA Manual of Style (11th ed.) for general abbreviation usage: spell out terms at first mention with the abbreviation in parentheses, then use the abbreviation thereafter. Abbreviations and acronyms should be defined again when used in tables and figures. Universally recognized abbreviations (e.g., DNA, RNA, PCR, ELISA, MRI, CT, HIV) need not be expanded. Disease entities, response criteria, staging systems, and trial group names (e.g., DLBCL, AML, MDS, CR, ORR, PFS, IPSS-R, ECOG) must be spelled out at first mention even when familiar to specialist readers. Human gene symbols must follow current HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee (HGNC) usage and be set in italics (e.g., MYC, TP53, KRAS); the corresponding protein products use the same symbol in unitalicized type (MYC protein). Sequence variants must be reported using Human Genome Variation Society (HGVS) nomenclature (e.g., c.35G>A, p.Gly12Asp), and cytogenetic findings using the current International System for Human Cytogenomic Nomenclature (ISCN). CD markers (CD20, CD138), HLA alleles (HLA-DRB1*04:01), and immunoglobulin classes (IgG, IgM) should be used as-is and are not expanded. Hematolymphoid neoplasms should be named according to the WHO Classification of Haematolymphoid Tumours (5th ed.); where the International Consensus Classification (ICC, 2022) entity name differs meaningfully, both may be given on first mention. Drugs should be referred to by their generic (INN) name; trade names may appear in parentheses on first mention only when relevant. A list of abbreviations used in the manuscript should be provided on a separate page following the title page.

Abstracts: Abstracts are required for Original Research articles and Brief Reports. Abstracts must be limited to 250 words with the following headings: Introduction, Methods (including information on design, setting, participants, interventions, and main outcomes measured), Results, and Conclusions. Abstracts should be double spaced, use Times New Roman, 12-point font, be left aligned with no indentation, use bolded headings followed by a period, and a single space between sections. 

Headings and Subheadings: Headings (such as Introduction, Methods, Results, etc.) are bold, left aligned, and placed above a paragraph. Subheadings are indented, each word capitalized, bolded, and included with the first line of text, followed by a period. 

        Ex. This is a Subheading. This is the first line of text.

REDCap® Instructions: Please cite the publications below in study manuscripts using REDCap® for data collection and management. We recommend the following boilerplate language:

Study data were collected and managed using REDCap® electronic data capture tools hosted at The University of Kansas Medical Center.1,2 

1    Harris PA, Taylor R, Thielke R, Payne J, Gonzalez N, Conde JG. Research electronic data capture (REDCap) – A metadata-driven methodology and workflow process for providing translational research informatics support. J Biomed Inform 2009; 42(2):377-381. PMID: 18929686.

2    Harris PA, Taylor R, Minor BL, et al. The REDCap consortium: Building an international community of software partners. J Biomed Inform 2019; 95:103208. PMID: 31078660.

In-text Citations: Citations should be superscripted Arabic numerals and follow punctuation in most cases. Exceptions include when listing information from several sources and when using the author's name. Citations should be numbered in chronological order and should not include brackets or parentheses.

       Ex. Previous literature demonstrates that roller skating is not only fun,1 but also good for your health.2
       Ex. Carte et al.1 described roller skating as fun.      

References: Information for formatting references can be found on the references page. 

Keywords: After the reference section, include 2-5 keywords or short phrases that will assist indexers in cross-indexing your article and that may be published with the abstract. Use terms from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of Index Medicus.

Tables:

  • Cite each table in the text in consecutive order as Table 1, Table 2, etc.
  • Kansas Journal of Medicine follows the AMA Manual of Style, 11th Edition, for table formatting (section 4.1). All tables must be created in Word format or Excel with editable, selectable text. Submitting a graphic image of a table is not acceptable.
  • Table text should be single spaced and use Times New Roman, 12-point font.
  • Do not submit tables as photographs.
  • Number each table consecutively in the order of its first citation in the text and supply a brief title.
  • Give each column a short heading. Place explanatory matter in footnotes, not in the heading.
  • Explain in footnotes all non-standard abbreviations.
  • Identify statistical measures of variation such as standard deviation and standard error of the mean.
  • If data are used from another published or unpublished source, obtain permission and acknowledge fully.
  • Tables spanning more than two pages of the Word document may be reformatted during production to appear as supplemental tables.

Figures and Images: Authors must submit high-quality figures and images that are visually clear, legible, and free of blurriness or distortion. Figures should be prepared in an editable format when incorporated into the Microsoft Word manuscript. Images also must be submitted as separate electronic files in one of the acceptable formats specified below.

Placement and Labeling: Cite each figure or image in the main text in consecutive order (e.g., Figure 1, Figure 2). Number figures according to their order of appearance in the text. Include a corresponding figure legend or caption for each figure or image. Keep text within figures to a minimum and define all symbols and abbreviations used. Submit figure and image captions separately from the figure or image files rather than embedding them within the figure or image. Each caption should include a brief title and description. Text added to figures or images should be in Times New Roman font.

Image Manipulation: No data within an image may be enhanced, obscured, moved, removed, or introduced through digital manipulation or generative artificial intelligence (AI). The use of touch-up tools or any feature that deliberately obscures alterations or manipulation is unacceptable. Any adjustment of contrast, brightness, or color must be applied equally to all parts of the entire image. Image files should be cropped as closely as possible to the actual image.

Image/Graphic Quality: The Kansas Journal of Medicine (KJM) requires normalized output that is high-resolution and of sufficient width and quality for archival publication. Images and graphics generated at low resolution for online display purposes are not acceptable. Color and black-and-white photographs or graphics must have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi to ensure clarity and legibility in both print and online formats. Acceptable file formats include TIFF, PNG, and high-quality JPEG. Authors must be prepared to submit the original, unaltered files from which submitted images were derived if requested by the editorial office.

Intended Display Size: Intended display size refers to the physical dimensions of a digital image or graphic as it will appear in the final published online PDF or print edition. For KJM, the intended display widths are as follows:

  • Single-column: 3.75 inches wide
  • Double-column: 7.7 inches wide

If the intended display size is uncertain, authors should calculate pixel dimensions using the larger width. Figures may be rejected if they are not submitted at or above their intended display size.

Pixel Dimension Calculation: Physical Size (inches) × Resolution (dpi) = Pixel Dimensions (px)

  • Single-Column Example (300 dpi): To span a single column at 3.75 inches wide, a 300 dpi image requires a minimum width of 1,125 pixels: 3.75 inches × 300 dpi = 1,125 pixels
  • Double-Column Example (300 dpi): To span a double column at 7.7 inches wide, a 300 dpi image requires a minimum width of 2,310 pixels: 7.7 inches × 300 dpi = 2,310 pixels

Last modified: September 9, 2026