Instructions to Authors

The Pediatric Infectious Disease Society Journal (ISSN 2782-9510) is an English, peer-reviewed, medical journal, and is the official publication of the Pediatric Infectious Disease Society of the Philippines (PIDSP). It is an online, open access journal indexed in the Western Pacific Region Index Medicus (WPRIM). It publishes original, peer-reviewed scientific papers on pediatric infectious diseases. Published articles include, but are not limited to, original researches, case reports, lectures, review articles, clinical practice guidelines, rapid communications, and correspondences. As of 2024, the journal uses E-REVIEWS (Enhancing Research Dissemination via an Efficient Web-based Journal Management System), an online, automated method for manuscript submissions.

Authors must create an E-REVIEWS account to upload their manuscript after signing the (1) PIDSP Article Publishing Agreement, which attests that: (a) the submission has not been published and is not under simultaneous consideration elsewhere for publication (b) all co-authors have reviewed and approved of the manuscript (c) any potential conflict of interest, especially from any financial associations, will be fully disclosed (d) all sources of funding and institutional affiliations of authors will be indicated (e) if the study involved human subjects, informed consent were taken, or if minors, consent was obtained from their guardians (f) the research has been evaluated by an ethics board before the research was performed and (g) full copyright of the manuscript is assigned to the PIDSP Journal. Authors must also accomplish the (2) International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) Disclosure Form, which documents potential conflicts of interest for each author.

Authors who experience difficulty in creating an E-REVIEWS account may contact the PIDSP Journal Manager through pidsp2009@yahoo.com.

Submitted manuscripts shall be reviewed and selected by the editors and further reviewed by external reviewers. The paper will undergo revisions to conform to the standards and style of the journal. Authors will be informed of these changes and notified before and after a paper is published.

GUIDELINES ON MANUSCRIPT SUBMISSION:

A. A manuscript must include the following sections and must be arranged in the following sequence: TITLE PAGE, AUTHORS, INSTITUTION AND PLACE OF STUDY, ABSTRACT, BODY OF THE MANUSCRIPT, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS, AND REFERENCES. Tables, legends, and illustrations must be incorporated within the text.

B. The PIDSP Journal requires that authors adhere to the Reporting guidelines for main study types as a condition for submission. Your article should contain and address each item of the checklist. Templates for these reporting guidelines can be found in E-REVIEWS.

C. The full TITLE should be clear and concise. Author/s information should contain given and family names, degrees and academic positions/affiliations, if any, as well as the name, address, telephone number, cell phone number and email address of the author to whom correspondence can be made.

D. All individuals designated as authors must meet ALL four criteria for authorship as outlined by the latest guidelines from the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)¹:

1.Substantial contributions to the concept or design of the work or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data for the work; AND
2.Drafting the work or reviewing it critically for important intellectual content; AND
3.Final approval for the version to be published; AND
4.Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved.

Other than these four criteria, the ICMJE further defines authorship as follows: “In addition to being accountable for the parts of the work done, an author should be able to identify which co-authors are responsible for specific parts of the work. In addition, authors should have confidence in the integrity of the contributions of their co-authors.”

Individuals who made a significant contribution to the work but who do not meet all four criteria may be credited in the Acknowledgements.

E. The ABSTRACT should not exceed 250 words; it must state clearly the OBJECTIVES, METHODOLOGY, RESULTS, and CONCLUSION. (Note: A structured abstract is not required for submissions categorized as case reports and clinical practice guidelines). At least three keywords, preferably using terms from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) list of Index Medicus, should be listed down horizontally under the abstract for purposes of cross-indexing.

F. BODY OF THE MANUSCRIPT

1. The paper must be arranged in the following order: INTRODUCTION, MATERIALS and METHODS, RESULTS, DISCUSSION,                 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS.

The structure of submissions categorized as CASE REPORTS and CLINICAL PRACTICE GUIDELINES (CPG) may follow a different structure for the body. Authors are encouraged to check and adhere to the Case Report (CARE) Guidelines Checklist for case reports, and the Appraisal of Guidelines Research and Evaluation (AGREE) Checklist for CPGs, both of which may be accessed in E-REVIEWS.

2. The INTRODUCTION should be 3-paragraph-short, sharp, address background information on the study, purpose of the study, and how this is  different, related or better from other studies.

3. The METHODS section should describe the research plan, materials used, types of patients included, and methods used such that others should be  able to evaluate the research performed. The main features of the study design should be described accurately and the outcome variables specified so that the study can be replicated.

Study/sampling/data flow charts can be used to describe complicated sampling/study designs. The target population should be described, and how the sample was selected (e.g. random sample, stratification used), the inclusion and exclusion criteria, the assignment mechanism (randomized or non-  randomized) and any blinding technique used (e.g. single or double blind). The expected sample size should be described.

The assumptions made on the distribution of data should be stated, as well as the choice of significance levels and power upon which the sample size was based. Clear descriptions of the main features of the statistical analysis should be provided (e.g. confidence interval, including degree of confidence, hypothesis tests, including null and alternative hypothesis, level of significance, tests and tests statistics). The procedures that were put in place to handle missing values and data as well as any outliers, should be described as well as the model assumption tests that were performed. The statistical software and the version used in the analysis should be specified, and the manufacturer of the software, city, and country of origin should be provided.

4. The RESULTS should present the main analysis of the study clearly and explain how the findings address the study objectives. It should illustrate the main characteristics of the key variables in tables and/or graphs, if appropriate. Tables are used to report summary statistics, summaries of results, or the quantities associated with a p-value. Use of appropriate measures of central tendency and spread as summary statistics is encouraged.

Tables, Figures, and Illustrations should be incorporated in the body, in the order of their presentation in the text, and should include clear titles and legends. They should not duplicate what is written in the text. Organize the data to be presented in the manuscript and plan which results answer the questions in the research and which results may be left out. All tables and illustrations should be cited in the text of the article. Limit the number of tables and illustrations to those that provide essential information that could not adequately be presented in the text.

All abbreviations should be spelled out once, specifically when they are mentioned for the first time in the text, followed by the abbreviations which are enclosed in parentheses. Thereafter, the same abbreviations may be used instead of the long names.

All measurements and weights should be in System International (SI) units.

5. The ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS should include grant support, technical assistance, advice, referral of patients, review of manuscript, and must be included at the end of the text, just before the References.

The ICMJE provides the following guidelines for writing Acknowledgements¹:
a. Contributors who met fewer than all four of the criteria for authorship discussed above may be cited in the Acknowledgements.
b. Authors must obtain written permission from all acknowledged contributors to be acknowledged in the publication because acknowledgement may imply endorsement of the study’s results and conclusions by these individuals.
c. Authors must report the use of artificial intelligence for writing assistance or any other function in the Acknowledgement Section.

6. The REFERENCES should be typed single-spaced, in order of presentation in the text, and represented by Arabic numerals in superscript in the body. Authors should quote a limited number of relevant and current references. Failure to properly cite a reference for the source of information provided in a manuscript may constitute plagiarism. Authors are responsible for checking that none of the references cited are retracted articles. References to papers that have been accepted and not yet published may be designated as “in press” or “forthcoming”. Information from manuscripts submitted for publication but not yet accepted may be designated as “unpublished observations.”

The Vancouver system is required for this journal.
a. References are numbered consecutively in the order in which they are quoted in the text.
b. The references are identified by Arabic numbers, appearing in the text, usually either in parentheses, e.g. (1, 2), or as superscripts, e.g.1,2
c. Examples of the Vancouver system for commonly cited publications are as follows²:

BOOK
• Author AA. Title of book. # edition [if not first]. Place of Publication: Publisher; Year of publication. Pagination.
• EXAMPLE: Starke JR. Textbook of Pediatric Infectious Diseases. 6th edition. Philadelphia: Saunders Elsevier; 2009. p.365-369.

ARTICLES in JOURNALS
Printed Journals
• Author. Title. Journal name (abbreviated). Year Month Day; Volume(Issue):page range.
• EXAMPLE: Bute M. A backstage sociologist: Autoethnography and a populist vision. Am Soc. 2016 Mar 23; 47(4):499–515
Internet Journals without DOI
• Author AA, Author BB. Title of article. Abbreviated title of Journal [Internet]. Date of publication YYYY MM [cited YYYY Mon DD];volume number(issue number):page numbers. Available from: URL
• EXAMPLE: Stockhausen L, Turale S. An explorative study of Australian nursing scholars and contemporary scholarship. J Nurs Scholarsh [Internet]. 2011 Mar [cited 2013 Feb 19];43(1):89-96. Available from: http://search.proquest.com/docview/ 858241255
Internet Journals without DOI
• Author AA, Author BB, Author CC, Author DD, Author EE, Author FF. Title of article. Abbreviated title of Journal [Internet]. Year of publication [cited YYYY Mon DD];volume number(issue number):page numbers. Available from: URL DOI
• EXAMPLE: Kanneganti P, Harris JD, Brophy RH, Carey JL, Lattermann C, Flanigan DC. The effect of smoking on ligament and cartilage surgery in the knee: a systematic review. Am J Sports Med [Internet]. 2012 Dec [cited 2013 Feb 19];40(12):2872-8. Available from: http://ajs.sagepub.com/content/40/12/2872 DOI: 10.1177/0363546512458223

INTERNET
• Author/organization’s name. Title of the page [Internet]. Place of publication: Publisher’s name; Date or year of publication [updated yr month day; cited yr month day]. Available from: URL
• EXAMPLE: Diabetes Australia. Diabetes globally [Internet]. Australia: Canberra ACT; Diabetes Australia; 2012 [updated 2012 June 15; cited 2012 Nov 5]. Available from: http://www.diabetesaustralia.com.au/en/ Understanding-Diabetes/DiabetesGlobally/

For additional information on the Vancouver System, please check the ICMJE Recommendations in the link below: American College of Physicians https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html

REFERENCES FOR THESE INSTRUCTIONS

1. International Committee of Medical Journal Editors [Internet]. Philadelphia: American College of Physicians; [cited 2024 March 28]. Available from: https://umc.libguides.com/citations/nlm.
2. National Library of Medicine [Internet]. Maryland: National Institutes of Health; 2023. Samples of Formatted References for Authors of Journal Articles; [updated 2023 April 14, cited 2024 March 28]. Available from: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html