The International Journal of MS Care (IJMSC) publishes peer-reviewed articles in areas of interest to multiple sclerosis (MS) health-care professionals. Topics include neurologic, nursing, rehabilitative, psychological, and psychosocial care and quality-of-life issues of people with MS and reflect the diversity of the journal’s readership. Categories of manuscripts considered include original research, clinically relevant reviews of the literature, case reports, consensus statements, controversies, book reviews, and letters to the editor.
SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS Submissions. Submissions should adhere to the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals (www.icmje.org). Manuscripts should be submitted using the online submission system located at http://ijmsc.msubmit.net. The submission should be accompanied by a cover letter stating that the paper is being submitted exclusively to IJMSC. Questions regarding the suitability or status of a submission should be directed to Dr. Lael Stone or Maria Stadtler at
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Authorship. Individuals designated as authors must 1) contribute to the conception and design or analysis and interpretation of data, 2) draft or critically revise the article for important content, AND 3) approve the final version. Authors or other contributors who do not meet all three criteria should be recognized in an Acknowledgments section.
Disclosure of Conflicts of Interest. Authors must disclose all relationships (financial and nonfinancial) that could be viewed as presenting conflicts of interest (for clarification, see www.icmje.org/ethical_4conflicts.html). Disclosures for all authors should be listed in a Disclosures section at the end of the manuscript, following the Acknowledgments section and preceding the References. If an author has no conflicts of interests to disclose, this should be stated. In addition, each author must declare conflicts of interest as part of the online manuscript submission process.
Ethical Approval of Studies. For studies involving human participants, institutional review board or ethics committee approval should be reported in the Methods section. All human investigation must be conducted according to the principles expressed in the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki (October 2008 version; for the full text, see www.wma.net/en/30publications/10policies/b3/index.html). Reports of studies involving animals must state that guidelines for the use and care of laboratory animals of the authors’ institution or the National Research Council or any national law were followed.
MANUSCRIPT PREPARATION Manuscripts should include a title page, “practice points,” abstract, text, references, and tables and figures, if applicable. All elements of the manuscript should be typed, double spaced, in MS Word. Refer to the American Medical Association (AMA) Manual of Style, 10th ed. (Oxford University Press, 2007) for guidelines. Do not use special formatting of any kind, headers, footers, or embedded footnotes or endnotes. Reference citations should not be linked to reference lists, and references should not be linked to the Internet.
Title Page. Include article title; full name and highest degree of each author; name and location of departments and institutions with which each author is affiliated (in English); and name, address, telephone number, fax number, and e-mail address of the corresponding author.
Practice Points. In one or two sentences each, please summarize the two or three most important concepts in your article for practicing MS clinicians, and list these as key “practice points” on a separate page following the title page and preceding the abstract.
Abstract. Summarize the content of the paper in 250 words or less. The abstract should be understandable without reference to the text and should not contain references.
References. References should be numbered consecutively. Recent references (published within the past 5 years) are preferred. Follow AMA style guidelines. Examples:
Journal—Author SW, Author K, Author ER, et al. Article title. J Title. 1992;27:1893–1898.
Supplement—Author DR. Article title. Int J MS Care. 2006;8(suppl 1):13–20.
Book—Author J, Author C, Author L. Chapter title. In: Editor J, ed. Book Title. Publisher City, State: Publisher Name; 2001:175–212.
Electronic publication—US Department of Agriculture. Food Guide Pyramid 1992. http://fnic.nal.usda.gov/nal. Accessed April 15, 2007.
Meeting abstract—Author DP, Author CM, Author MA, et al. Abstract (or poster or presentation) title. Program and abstracts of the 40th Annual Meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology; 5-8 June 2004; New Orleans, LA. Abstract X.
Tables and Figures. Tables and figures should be numbered separately and cited in the text. Each table should have a title, and figure legends should appear at the end of the text. Digital figures are preferred and must be submitted as separate files. Photographs should have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi.
All tables and figures reprinted from other publications should be accompanied by a complete citation of the source. Written permission must be obtained by the author from the copyright owner and sent with the submission.
PEER REVIEW Submissions are sent for peer review to content experts in the particular area of the submitted article. Authors may suggest up to five potential reviewers for their manuscript. Reviewers recommend that a manuscript be accepted, rejected, or revised and include comments for the Editor in Chief and authors. Final decisions are made by the Editor in Chief. The corresponding author is notified of the final decision by e-mail.
COPYRIGHT ASSIGNMENT Articles appearing in IJMSC are copyrighted by the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers. All accepted manuscripts become the sole permanent property of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers and may not be published elsewhere without written permission from the publisher. On acceptance, a copyright transfer form is sent to the corresponding author, who is responsible for ensuring that each author signs and returns a separate form. Articles will not be published without a signed copyright release from all authors. Transfer of copyright implies transfer of rights for printed, electronic, microfilm, and facsimile publication.
Reuse. Authors are permitted to reuse portions of their copyrighted work, including tables and figures, in their own work and to reuse portions or all of their copyrighted work for educational purposes without submitting a request to the publisher, provided the proper citation and copyright information are given.
Permission requests to reproduce material from IJMSC in any other capacity should be sent to the publisher. Letters requesting permission should include the issue and page number on which the material appears and the name of the publication in which the material will be reproduced.
COPYEDITING All manuscripts are edited for clarity, style, conciseness, and format according to AMA guidelines. The edited manuscript is sent to the corresponding author, who is asked to answer any queries and approve the edited version for publication. The corresponding author is responsible for communicating with coauthors.
CHECKLIST FOR ARTICLE SUBMISSION
» Cover letter with statement of exclusive submission and names of 2 or 3 potential reviewers » Full name, highest degree, affiliation of each author » Address, telephone number, and e-mail of corresponding author » Completed conflict-of-interest disclosure form for each author » Practice Points » Abstract » Article text » Disclosure section listing conflicts of interest for all authors » References (not linked electronically to other documents or websites) » Tables and figures with captions (written permissions if applicable)
International Journal of MS Care 
