ITALIAN JOURNAL OF PHYSIOTHERAPY (IJP)

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS
The Italian Journal of Physiotherapy (IJP) publishes scientific on-line papers on basis sciences and effectiveness studies related to physiotherapy, considered as application of manual therapy and therapeutic exercise in subjects with musculoskeletal disorders and motor impairment. IJP publishes innovative and highly relevant content for both clinicians and scientists and uses a variety of interactive approaches to communicate that content, with the expressed purpose of improving patient care.
Manuscripts may be submitted in the form of editorials, original articles, review articles, case reports, special articles and letters to the Editor. IJP may also invite international leaders of scientific topics related to physiotherapy to submit review articles.
Manuscripts are expected to comply with the instructions to authors which conform to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Editors by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (www.icmje.org). Articles not conforming to international standards will not be considered for acceptance. Papers should be submitted directly to the online Editorial Office at the Edizioni Minerva Medica website:
www.minervamedicaonlinesubmission.it
IJP will consider for publication manuscripts that have not been published elsewhere, except in abstract form or as part of a published lecture or academic thesis and that it is not under consideration for publication elsewhere. Submission implies that the publication of the manuscript is approved by all authors and tacitly or explicitly by the responsible authorities where the work was carried out, and that, if accepted, it will not be published elsewhere in the same form, in English or in any other language, without the written consent of the Publisher. The Authors agree to transfer the ownership of copyright to the IJP in the event the manuscript is published. The journal adheres to the principles set forth in the Helsinki Declaration and states that all reported research concerning human beings should be conducted in accordance with such principles.
The journal also adheres to the International Guiding Principles for Biomedical Research Involving Animals recommended by the WHO and requires that all research on animals be conducted in accordance with these principles. The Authors, if necessary, must indicate that the study has been approved by the ethics committee and that patients have given their informed consent. Authors must also indicate whether they have any financial agreement with any organization that were involved in the research by filling the relevant form. Papers must be accompanied by the following authors’ statement relative to copyright, ethics and conflicts of interest, signed by all authors:
"The undersigned authors transfer the ownership of copyright to the Italian Journal of Physiotherapy should their work be published in this journal. They state that the article is original, has not been submitted for publication in other journals and has not yet been published either wholly or in part. They state that they are responsible for the research that they have designed and carried out; that they have participated in drafting and revising the manuscript submitted, whose contents they approve. In the case of studies carried out on human beings, the authors confirm that the study was approved by the ethics committee and that the patients gave their informed consent. They also state that the research reported in the paper was undertaken in compliance with the Helsinki Declaration and the International Principles governing research on animals. They agree to inform Edizioni Minerva Medica of any conflict of interest that might arise, particularly any financial agreements they may have with pharmaceutical or biomedical firms whose products are pertinent to the subject matter dealt with in the manuscript."
The authors implicitly agree to their paper being peer-reviewed. All manuscripts will be reviewed by Editorial Board members who reserve the right to reject the manuscript without entering the review process in the case that the topic, the format or ethical aspects are inappropriate.
Once accepted, all manuscripts are subjected to copy editing. If modifications to the manuscript are requested, the corrected version should be sent to the online Editorial Office with the modified parts underlined and highlighted. The revised version should be accompanied by a letter with point-by-point responses to the reviewers’ comments. Correction of proofs should be limited to a simple check of the printing; it is therefore essential that corrections be kept to an absolute minimum. Proofs must be returned by the deadline specified to the online Editorial Office of the Italian Journal of Physiotherapy. In case of late return the editorial staff of the journal either may correct the proofs on the basis of the original manuscript or delay the publication. Forms for ordering reprints are sent together with the proofs. Rejected articles will not be returned to the author except on request.
For further information about publication terms please contact the Editorial Office of the Italian Journal of Physiotherapy, Edizioni Minerva Medica, Corso Bramante 83-85, 10126 Torino, Italy – Phone +39-011-678282 – Fax +39-011-674502 – E mail: journals6.dept@minervamedica.it

ARTICLE TYPES
Instructions for the types of articles submitted to the journal. The number of figures and tables should be appropriate for the type and length of the paper.
Editorials. Commissioned by the Editor in Chief or the Managing Editor, editorials deal with a subject of topical interest about which the author expresses his/her personal opinion. No more than 1000 words and up to 15 references will be accepted.
Original articles. These should be original contributions to the subject. The text should be 2500-5000 words not including references, tables, figures. No more than 50 references will be accepted. The article must be subdivided into the following sections: introduction, materials and methods, results, discussion, conclusions. In the introduction the aim of the study should be clearly summed up. Justify the study, why is it needed. Summarize the rationale for the study or observation. Give only pertinent references, and do not review the subject extensively. Do not include data or conclusions from the work being reported. The materials and methods section should describe in a logical sequence how the study was designed and carried out. Identify the methods, equipment and materials, and procedures in sufficient detail including pertinent references, to allow others to reproduce the study. Describe how the data were analyzed (what hypothesis was tested, what type of study was carried out, how randomization was done, how the subjects were recruited and chosen, provide accurate details of the main features of treatment, of the materials used, of drug dosages, of unusual equipments, of the statistical method. In the results section the answers to the questions posed in the introduction should be given). Describe statistical methods in enough detail to enable knowledgeable readers with access to the original data to verify the reported results. Authors should report and identify the specific statistical test used and the obtained statistical value. When analysing several outcome variables and/or investigating the relationship between many variable consider to use multivariate statistical methods. Specify any general-use computer programs used. The results should be reported fully, clearly and concisely supported, if necessary, by figures, graphs and tables. Present results in logical sequence. Avoid repeating information in text, tables and figures. Restrict tables and figures to those needed to explain arguments and to assess their support. The discussion section should sum up the main results, critically analyze the methods used, compare the results obtained with other published data and discuss the implications of the results. Discuss the limitation of the study. The conclusions should briefly sum up the significance of the study and its future implications.
Do not repeat in detail data or other information presented in the Introduction or Result section. It is suggested to the authors to follow the guidelines reported by the CONSORT statement.
Review articles. Review articles should discuss a topic of current interest, outline current knowledge of the subject, analyze different opinions regarding the problem discussed, be up-to-date on the latest data in the literature. The text should be 3000-8000 words not including references, tables, figures. No more than 100 references will be accepted. It is suggested to the authors to follow the guidelines reported by the PRISMA statement. Authors of systematic review articles should: define a clear and clinically relevant research question; retrieve and describe relevant reviews published to date; document their limitations and justify the need for a more comprehensive review; define the search strategy used to identify primary articles; describe the methods used to select primary studies; specify inclusion and exclusion criteria; account for all studies identified by the search and justify exclusions; describe the method of combining study results; discuss variation within and between studies; state their conclusions; compare their conclusions to the literature and current standard of care; outline the limitations of the review; suggest areas for future research.
Case reports. These give a description of particularly interesting cases, for which is justified do not wait to have a greater sample size. Case reports are most valuable if they identify a previously not described finding or phenomenon, or if they describe a therapy that could lead to future research or a change in practice. The text should be 1500-3000 words not including references, tables, figures. No more than 30 references will be accepted. The article must be subdivided into the following sections: introduction, case report or clinical series, discussion, conclusions.
Special articles. These are articles on the history, health care delivery, ethics, economic policy and law concerning physiotherapy. The text should be 2000-7000 words not including references, tables, figures. No more than 50 references will be accepted.
Letters to the Editor. These may refer to articles already published in the journal or to a subject of topical interest that the authors wish to present to readers in a concise form. The text should be 500-1000 words not including references, tables, figures. No more than 5 references will be accepted.
Guidelines. These are documents drawn up by special committees or authoritative sources.

PREPARATION OF MANUSCRIPTS
Text file
The formats accepted are Word and RTF. All submissions should be in English in 12-point Arial, Times, or Times New Roman font. Double-space the text with margins at least 2.5 cm (1 inch). Authors are requested to include line numbers to their manuscript in word prior to submission. The text file must contain title, authors’ details, notes, abstract, key words, text, references and titles of tables and figures. Tables and figures should be submitted as separate files.
Title and authors’ details
• Title, with no abbreviations.
• First name, surname of the authors
• Affiliation (section, department and institution) of each author
Notes
• Dates of any congress where the paper has already been presented.
• Name, address, e-mail of the corresponding author;
• Mention of any funding or research contracts or conflict of interest.
• Acknowledgements.
• Word count of the text and the number of figures and tables in the article
Abstract and key words
Articles should include an abstract of between 200 and 250 words structured with the following subheadings: Background, Objective, Study design, Methods, Results, Conclusions. Up to 5 key words or terms should be included for use by referencing sources. Key words should refer to the terms from Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) of MEDLINE/PubMed. No abstracts are required for editorials or letters to the Editor.
Text
Identify methodologies, equipment (give name and address of manufacturer in brackets) and procedures in sufficient detail to allow other researchers to reproduce results. Specify well-known methods including statistical procedures; mention and provide a brief description of published methods which are not yet well known; describe new or modified methods at length; justify their use and evaluate their limits. Units of measurement, symbols and abbreviations must conform to international standards. Measurements of length, height, weight and volume should be given in metric units (meter, kilogram, liter) or their decimal multiples. Temperatures must be expressed in degrees Celsius. Blood pressure must be expressed in millimeters of mercury. All clinical chemistry measurements should be expressed in metric units using the International System of Units (SI). The use of unusual symbols or abbreviations is strongly discouraged. The first time an abbreviation appears in the text, it should be preceded by the words for which it stands.
Language
Please write your text in good English. All accepted manuscripts will be subject to copyediting.
Photographic Consents
A letter of consent must accompany all photographs of subjects in which the possibility of identification exists. It is not sufficient to cover the eyes to mask identity.
References
Cite references in the text by using superscripted Arabic numerals, and number them in the order in which they are cited. Type the reference section double-spaced at the end of the text, following the examples given below. References must be set out in the standard format approved by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (www.icmje.org).
JOURNALS
Each entry must specify the author’s surname and initials (list all authors when there are six or fewer; when there are seven or more, list only the first six and then “et al.”), the article’s original title, the name of the Journal (according to the abbreviations used by MEDLINE/PubMed), the year of publication, the volume number and the number of the first and last pages. When citing references, please follow the rules for international standard punctuation carefully.
Examples:
- Standard article.
Sutherland DE, Simmons RL, Howard RJ. Intracapsular technique of transplant nephrectomy. Surg Gynecol Obstet 1978;146:951-2.
- Organization as author
International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. Ann Int Med 1988;108:258-65.
- Issue with supplement
Payne DK, Sullivan MD, Massie MJ. Women’s psychological reactions to breast cancer. Semin Oncol 1996;23(1 Suppl 2):89-97.
BOOKS AND MONOGRAPHS
For occasional publications, the names of authors, title, edition, place, publisher and year of publication must be given.
Examples:
- Books by one or more authors
Rossi G. Manual of Otorhinolaryngology. Turin: Edizioni Minerva Medica; 1987.
- Chapter from book
De Meester TR. Gastroesophageal reflux disease. In: Moody FG, Carey LC, Scott Jones R, Ketly KA, Nahrwold DL, Skinner DB, editors. Surgical treatment of digestive diseases. Chicago: Year Book Medical Publishers; 1986. p. 132-58.
- Congress proceedings
Kimura J, Shibasaki H, editors. Recent advances in clinical neurophysiology. Proceedings of the 10th International Congress of EMG and Clinical Neurophysiology; 1995 Oct 15-19; Kyoto, Japan. Amsterdam: Elsevier; 1996.
ELECTRONIC MATERIAL
- Standard journal article on the Internet
Kaul S, Diamond GA. Good enough: a primer on the analysis and interpretation of noninferiority trials. Ann Intern Med [Internet]. 2006 Jul 4 [cited 2007 Jan 4];145(1):62-9. Available from: http://www.annals.org/cgi/reprint/145/1/62.pdf
- Standard citation to a book on CD-ROM or DVD
Kacmarek RM. Advanced respiratory care [CD-ROM]. Version 3.0. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; ©2000. 1 CD-ROM: sound, color, 4 3/4 in.
- Standard citation to a homepage
AMA: helping doctors help patients [Internet]. Chicago: American Medical Association; ©1995-2007 [cited 2007 Feb 22]. Available from: http://www.ama-assn.org/.
Footnotes and endnotes of Word must not be used in the preparation of references.
References first cited in a table or figure legend should be numbered so that they will be in sequence with references cited in the text taking into consideration the point where the table or figure is first mentioned. Therefore, those references should not be listed at the end of the reference section but consecutively as they are cited.
Titles of tables and figures
Titles of tables and figures should be included both in the text file and in the file of tables and figures.
File of tables
Each table should be submitted as a separate file. Formats accepted are Word and RTF. Each table must be typed correctly and prepared graphically in keeping with the page layout of the journal, numbered in Roman numerals and accompanied by the relevant title. Notes should be inserted at the foot of the table and not in the title. Tables should be referenced in the text sequentially.
File of figures
Each figure should be submitted as a separate file. Formats accepted: JPEG set at 300 dpi resolution preferred; other formats accepted are TIFF, PNG, PDF (high quality) and Word (for graphs). Figures should be numbered in Arabic numerals and accompanied by the relevant title. Figures should be referenced in the text sequentially. Reproductions should be limited to the part that is essential to the paper. Histological photographs should always be accompanied by the magnification ratio and the staining method. If figures are in color, it should always be specified whether color or black and white reproduction is required. The cost of color figures will be charged to the Authors.
Optimal dimensions for publication of figures in the journal are:
• 8.6 cm (base) × 4.8 cm (height)
• 8.6 cm (base) × 9 cm (height)
• 17.6 cm (base) × 9 cm (height)
• 17.6 cm (base) × 18.5 cm (height): 1 page.