HKSCC Communications
Instructions To Authors

General

  1. Articles should be 1000-1500 words in length.
  2. Articles MUST be written in English.
  3. An article should consist of: title page, abstract, introduction, materials and methods, results, and discussion.
  4. Articles MUST be submitted electronically (either on disk or via email)- image may be sent to Professor NS Panesar
  5. Submit 3 or 4 "Key Words" for indexing purposes.
  6. All articles will be peer reviewed by two expert reviewers.

Manuscript Preparation

Use wide (2 cm) margins and double spacing throughout the abstract, text, references, tables, figure legends, and footnotes. Write on one side of the paper. Place references, tables, and figure legends on separate pages, in that order. Number every page, starting with the title page, in the top right-hand corner. For guidance on manuscript preparation and style, consult Dodd JS, ed. The ACS Style Guide: A Manual for Authors and Editors, 2nd ed. Washington DC. American Chemical Society Publications, 1997. (Address: 1155, 16th St. NW, Washington DC 20036 USA). Use the International System of Units (SI) [5] consistently throughout. (Values expressed in conventional units may be added in parentheses after the value in SI units.) Space in the journal is limited and authors are expected to present their work concisely.

Title page. Prepare the title page on a separate sheet with the authors' first and last names in full, using footnotes to indicate the addresses and the corresponding author. Include the mailing address, fax number and e-mail address of the corresponding author. Provide an abbreviated title of no more than 50 characters to be used as a running title.

Abstract. On a separate sheet, not more than 150 words.

Abbreviations. Define all nonstandard abbreviations the first time they are used in the text and (if >2) in a single footnote after the abstract. Avoid unnecessary new abbreviations.

Acknowledgments. In a paragraph preceding the references, acknowledge financial support, gifts, technical help, or other assistance, including that rendered by a company in evaluation of a product (see the Conflict of interest section above).

Materials and methods. Identify the model of the apparatus used and provide the name of the manufacturer. For modified or newly created equipment, provide enough detail for the reader to duplicate the construction.

Figures. For halftones, submit glossy prints; for line drawings, submit glossy prints or laser prints on coated (nonabsorbent) laser-printer paper or drawings in black India ink on tracing paper. Figures printed with dot-matrix printers are not acceptable. Before submitting, verify that symbols and lettering will be legible when the figure is reduced to one column (85 mm) or two columns (176 mm) wide. Lower-case lettering with an initial capital is preferred. On the back of each figure, indicate the figure number, the name of the first Sauthor, and the top of the figure. The cost of publishing color illustrations will be borne by the author, invited contributions excepted. Provide figure captions and subcaptions on a separate sheet. If a figure has been published previously, acknowledge the original source and submit written permission from the copyright holder to reproduce the material.

Tables. Type each table and its brief caption on a separate page. Indicate explanatory footnotes with superscript lower-case italic letters in alphabetical order, reading across the table. Number tables consecutively with Arabic numerals. Give every column a heading with clearly defined units as appropriate.

References. Number references in the order of appearance; do not alphabetize. Numbers for reference citations in the text should be typed as superscript. In the reference list, name all authors of a paper unless there are more than seven, in which case list the first six plus "et al." Do not use italic or boldface type in the reference citations. Examples of reference format follow:

  1. Fiechtner M, Ramp J, England B, Knudson MA, Little RR, England JD, et al. Affinity binding assay of glycohemoglobin by two-dimensional centrifugation referenced to hemoglobin Alc. Clin Chem 1992;38:2372-9.
  2. Demers LM. New biochemical marker for bone disease: is it a breakthrough? [Editorial]. Clin Chem 1992;38:2169-70.
  3. Davey L, Naidoo L. Urinary screen for acetaminophen (paracetamol) in the presence of N-acetylcysteine [Letter]. Clin Chem 1993;39:2348-9.
  4. Siminovitch KA. Molecular characterization of human anti-DNA antibodies. In: Farid NR, Bona CA, eds. The molecular aspects of autoimmunity. San Diego: Academic Press, 1991:59-72.
  5. Bailar JC III, Mosteller F, eds. Medical uses of statistics, 2nd ed. Boston: NEJM Books, 1992:449pp.
  6. Haughton MA. Immunonephelometric measurement of vitamin D binding protein [MAppSci thesis]. Sydney, Australia: University of Technology, 1989:87pp.

Manuscript Submission

Submit four copies of the manuscript. Each copy must include all figures and tables. Manuscripts and figures will not be returned to the authors. Submit final versions of accepted manuscripts on computer disk together with three hard copies. WordPerfect or Microsoft Word are the preferred programs, but an ASCII file is acceptable. Final versions of figures may also be submitted on disk, together with three hard copies on laser-printer paper. Indicate on the disk label the manuscript number and the software, including the version used.

All manuscripts must be accompanied by a covering letter stating the title of the paper, and the main points.