INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS
AIMS AND SCOPEAUTHORS: ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
TABLES
FIGURE PREPARATION
ABBREVIATIONS
TRADE NAMES
REFERENCES
SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL
COLOUR ILLUSTRATIONS
COPYRIGHT
TRANSPARENCY DECLARATION
PREPARATION OF THE DIFFERENT MANUSCRIPTS TO BE PUBLISHED IN NDT
PREPARATION OF PUBLICATIONS TO BE PUBLISHED IN NDT Plus
OPEN ACCESS OPTION FOR AUTHORS
PAGE CHARGES
OFFPRINTS
AUTHOR SELF-ARCHIVING/PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY
EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES:
PRODUCTION ENQUIRIES
Note to authors:
ALL ARTICLES MUST BE SUBMITTED ONLINE. Once you have prepared your manuscript according to the Instructions below, Please pay particular attention to the sections on Conflict of Interest Declaration and Figure Preparation.
Please visit http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ndtjournals, the online submission website for the Journal. Instructions on submitting your manuscript online can be viewed here.
1. AIMS AND SCOPE
NDT and NDT Plus are the official publications of the European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplant Association. The journals publish articles relating to clinical or laboratory investigations of relevance to nephrology, dialysis or transplantation. Papers relating to basic immunology, anatomy and physiology are welcomed if these relate to the kidney.
NDT will publish Editorials, Reviews, and Original Research. Rapid communications, technical reports and letters to the Editor are also considered. Only a small number of case reports providing novel insights into the pathophysiology of a disease or describing clinical observations for the first time will be accepted for publication in NDT.
NDT Plus is a brand new bi-monthly journal which will enhance, complement, and add value to the leading nephrology journal NDT. NDT Plus aims to be an essential educational and training resource. It will publish practical, and clinically-orientated content and will provide a valuable teaching tool to help inform, guide and improve practice and training for nephrologists. NDT Plus will publish the following types of article:
Clinical Case Reports
Teaching Points
Nephroquiz
Images in Nephrology
Letters (not related to publications in NDT)
Supplements
Both journals will only consider papers in English
NDT and NDT Plus now require online submission. Please visit http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/ndtjournals. You will also find more complete submission instructions at this site.
Letters to the Editor do not necessarily express the views of the Editor, and may or may not be peer-reviewed. Only letters commenting on papers previously published in the journal will be considered for publication in NDT after editorial review.
All material is assumed to be submitted exclusively unless otherwise stated, and must not have been published previously except in abstract form. Papers related to the topic of the submitted manuscript which are in preparation or submitted to other journals must be included with the manuscript destined for NDT and NDT Plus.
2. AUTHORS: ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES
Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for the content. This participation must include:
1. Conception or design, or analysis and interpretation of data, or both.
2. Drafting the article or revising it.
3. Providing intellectual content of critical importance to the work described.
4. Final approval of the version to be published. (See Br Med J 1985; 291: 722-723.)
Manuscripts should bear the full name and address, with telephone, fax, and email of the author to whom the proofs and correspondence should be sent (corresponding author). For all authors, first name and surname should be written in full.
In a covering letter, the individual contribution of each co-author must be detailed. This letter must contain the statement: 'the results presented in this paper have not been published previously in whole or part, except in abstract form'. Should your manuscript be accepted for publication, you will be required to give signed consent for publication (see copyright section).
On acceptance, the corresponding author will be advised of the approximate date of receipt of proofs. Proofs must be returned by the author within 48 hours of receipt.
To accelerate publication, only one set of PDF proofs is sent to the corresponding author by email. This shows the layout of the paper as it will appear in the Journal. It is, therefore, essential that manuscripts are submitted in their final form, ready for the printer. Proof-reading must be limited to the correction of typographical errors. Any other changes involve time-consuming and expensive work and may not be permitted at this stage. If additions are necessary, these may be made at the end of the paper in a Note in Proof. Major changes may be subject to editorial approval.
Authors are referred to the statement on uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals prepared by an international committee of medical journal editors. (Br Med J 1982; 284: 1766-1770, Ann Intern Med 1982; 96: 766-771.)
Protection of Human Subjects and Animals in Research
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 guide for the care and use of laboratory animals was followed.
3. TABLES
All tables must be numbered consecutively and each must have a brief heading describing its contents. Any footnotes to tables should be indicated by superscript characters. Tables must be referred to in the main text in running order. All tables must be simple and not duplicate information given in the text.
4. FIGURE PREPARATION
Please be aware that the requirements for online submission and for reproduction in the journal are different: (i) for online submission and peer review, please upload your figures either embedded in the word processing file or separately as low-resolution images (.jpg, .tif, .gif or. eps); (ii) for reproduction in the journal, you will be required after acceptance to supply high-resolution .tif files (1200 d.p.i. for line drawings and 300 d.p.i. for colour and half-tone artwork) or high-quality printouts on glossy paper. We advise that you create your high-resolution images first as these can be easily converted into low-resolution images for online submission.
We would encourage authors to generate line figures in colour using the following colour palette:
Blue (CMYK definition - 96/60/2/1 / RGB definition – 0/101/172)
Orange (CMYK definition - 0/71/88/0 / RGB definition – 243/110/53)
Pink (CMYK definition - 0/100/50/0 / RGB definition – 237/20/90)
Yellow (CMYK definition - 1/29/94/0 / RGB definition – 249/185/40)
Green (CMYK definition - 77/10/96/2 / RGB definition – 59/162/75)
Magenta (CMYK definition - 65/98/28/25 / RGB definition – 97/33/94)
In order to have consistency throughout the journal, the publishers reserve the right to re-draw figures, where necessary, with the appropriate colours from the palette. Authors will have an opportunity to correct inappropriate changes at the proof correction stage.
For useful information on preparing your figures for publication, go to http://cpc.cadmus.com/da/index.jsp. Figures will not be relettered by the publisher. The journal reserves the right to reduce the size of illustrative material. Any photomicrographs, electron micrographs or radiographs must be of high quality. Wherever possible, photographs should fit within the print area of 169 x 235 mm (full page) or within the column width of 82 mm. Photomicrographs should provide details of staining technique and a scale bar. Patients shown in photographs should have their identity concealed or should have given their written consent to publication. Normally no more than six illustrations will be accepted for publication in the print issue without charge.
5. ABBREVIATIONS
Authors should not use abbreviations in headings and figure legends should be comprehensive without extensive repetition of the Subjects and Methods section. Authors are advised to refrain from excessive use of uncommon abbreviations, particularly to describe groups of patients or experimental animals.
6. TRADE NAMES
Non-proprietary (generic) names of products should be used. If a brand name for a drug is used, the British or International non-proprietary (approved) name should be given. The source of any new or experimental preparation should also be given.
7. REFERENCES
The references should be numbered in the order in which they appear in the text. References to published abstracts should be mentioned in the text but not in the reference list.
At the end of the article the full list of references should give the name and initials of all authors unless there are more than six, when only the first three should be given followed by et al. The authors' names should be followed by the title of the article, the title of the Journal abbreviated according to the style of Index Medicus, the year of publication, the volume number and the first and last page numbers. References to books should give the title of the book, which should be followed by the place of publication, the publisher, the year and the relevant pages.
EXAMPLES
1. Madaio MP. Renal biopsy. Kidney Int 1990; 38: 529-543
Books:
2. Roberts NK. The cardiac conducting system and the His bundle electrogram. Appleton-Century-Crofts, New York, NY: 1981; 49-56
Chapters:
3. Rycroft RJG, Calnan CD. Facial rashes among visual display unit (VDU) operators. In: Pearce BG, ed. Health hazards of VDUs. Wiley, London, UK: 1984; 13-15
Note: In the online version of NDT, there are automatic links from the reference section of each article to Medline. This is a useful feature for readers, but is only possible if the references are accurate. It is the responsibility of the author to ensure the accuracy of the references in the submitted article. Downloading references direct from Medline is highly recommended.
8. SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL
Supporting material that is not essential for inclusion in the full text of the manuscript, but would nevertheless benefit the reader, can be made available by the publisher as online-only content, linked to the online manuscript. There is no charge for the publication of online-only supplementary data/tables/figures. Such material should not be essential to understanding the conclusions of the paper, but should contain data that is additional or complementary and directly relevant to the article content. Such information might include more detailed methods, extended data sets/data analysis, or additional figures (including colour).
All text and figures must be provided in suitable electronic formats (instructions for the preparation of Supplementary material can be viewed here). All material to be considered as Supplementary material must be submitted at the same time as the main manuscript for peer review. It cannot be altered or replaced after the paper has been accepted for publication. Please indicate clearly the material intended as Supplementary material upon submission. Also ensure that the Supplementary material is referred to in the main manuscript where necessary.
9. COLOUR ILLUSTRATIONS
Colour illustrations are accepted, but the authors will be required to contribute to the cost of the reproduction. Colour figures will incur a printing charge of £350/$665/508 euros each (this does not apply to invited contributions).
Illustrations for which colour is not essential can be reproduced as black and white images in the printed journal and, additionally, in colour as online Supplementary material. This option is not subject to colour charges. Authors should indicate clearly that they would like to take up this option in the covering letter and on the figures. The availability of additional colour images as Supplementary material should be mentioned where relevant in the main text of the manuscript. Instructions on how to submit colour figures as Supplementary material can be viewed online. Orders from the UK will be subject to a 17.5% VAT charge. For orders from elsewhere in the EU you or your institution should account for VAT by way of a reverse charge. Please provide us with your or your institution’s VAT number.
10. COPYRIGHT
If any tables, illustrations or photomicrographs have been published elsewhere, written consent for re-publication (in print and online) must be obtained by the author from the copyright holder and the author(s) of the original article, such permission being detailed in the cover letter.
It is a condition of publication in the Journal that authors grant an exclusive licence to the Journal, published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Renal Association-European Dialysis and Transplant Association. This ensures that requests from third parties to reproduce articles are handled efficiently and consistently and will also allow the article to be as widely disseminated as possible. In assigning the licence, authors may use their own material in other publications provided that the Journal is acknowledged as the original place of publication and Oxford University Press is notified in writing and in advance.
For all accepted articles, please ensure that a completed copyright licence form is sent directly to the production office at Oxford University Press.
For NDT PLUS papers, please download the licence to publish form which can be found here
11. TRANSPARENCY DECLARATION
All authors must make a formal declaration at the time of submission indicating any potential conflict of interest. This is a condition of publication and failure to do so will dealy the review process. Such declarations might include, but are not limited to, shareholding in or receipt of a grant, travel award or consultancy fee from a company whose product features in the submitted manuscript or a company that manufactures a competing product.
You will be required to provide this information during the online submission process.
In addition, in the interests of openness, ALL papers submitted to NDT and NDT Plus MUST include a ‘Transparency declarations’ section (which should appear at the end of the paper, before the ‘References’ section) within the article. We suggest authors concentrate on transparency declarations (i.e. conflicts of interest) of a financial nature, although relevant non-financial disclosures can also be made.
Authors should either include appropriate declarations or state ‘None to declare’. Importantly, the declarations should be kept as concise as possible, should avoid giving financial details (e.g. sums received, numbers of shares owned etc.), and should be restricted to declarations that are specific to the paper in question. Authors will of course need to consider whether or not the transparency declarations need to be amended when revisions are submitted.
Please click here to consult the COPE guidelines on conflict of interest. The editors’ declarations of interest statements can also be viewed online.
12. PREPARATION OF THE DIFFERENT MANUSCRIPTS TO BE PUBLISHED IN NDT
Original articles
Word count: maximum 3500 words, including abstract but excluding references, tables and figures.
Keywords: maximum 6
References: maximum 60
The order of original articles should be as follows:
1. Title page including the title (please bear in mind that we prefer a title to be concise yet eye-catching) and details of all authors, including first or given name, and affiliation;
2. On a separate page an abstract of ~250 words. It should consist of four paragraphs labelled, `Background', `Methods', `Results' and `Conclusions'. They should briefly describe, respectively, the problems being addressed in this study, how the study was performed, the salient results and what the authors conclude from the results.
3. Keywords: not more than 6, in alphabetical order, characterizing the scope of the paper, the principal materials, and main subject of work.
4. Provide a short summary of max 3-4 sentences pointing out the main message of the paper.
5. On a new page: Introduction, Subjects and Methods, Results, Discussion, Acknowledgements, References, Tables, Legends to figures and Figures. All pages should be numbered consecutively commencing with the title page. Headings (Introduction; Subjects and Methods, etc) should be placed on separate lines. It is important that authors number their pages prior to submission as reviewers will refer to particular pages when providing their comments on the manuscript.
Any statistical method must be detailed in the Subjects and Methods section, and any not in common use should be described fully or supported by references.
Uninvited and invited editorial comments
Word count: maximum 1500 – no abstract; Authors may include 1 figure or table
Keywords 3-4
References: max 30
These editorials are usually solicited by the editors but may also be submitted without invitation on topics published in NDT or other journals; they should be topical and highly focused.
Editorial reviews
Word count: maximum 4000- no abstract; authors may include 3-4 figures or tables
Keywords: 3-4 and subheadings are required
References: max 80
These reviews are usually solicited by the editors and are comprehensive analyses of specific topics in nephrology. Potential authors may suggest topics for editorial reviews for consideration by the Editors.
Translational nephrology
These articles are usually solicited by the editors and are intended to highlight a recent basic science article, discussing the potential clinical relevance of the research developments.
Word count: maximum 1000 words, max 1-2 figures or tables
Keywords: 3-4 and subheadings are required
References: max 20
1. Title page giving details of all authors, including first or given name, and affiliation. Please bear in mind that we prefer a title to be concise yet eye-catching)
2. Full reference of the „basic science article“ that this editorial is based on
3. A 100-200 word summary of the key findings in the article to be discussed
4. A brief (400-600 word) review of the field and in particular the question of what the key novel information is in the highlighted article. Of course the article should be discussed from a somewhat broader perspective, and contain a brief discussion on related topics
5. A 200-300 word discussion of “what is in it for the practising nephrologist?“ or ”how could / will this affect my clinical work?“. In writing your comment, please bear in mind that it should be targeted at the practising clinician. The editorial should give the practising nephrologist an idea of what is in it for them, and how this particular article or development might affect future clinical practise.
6. A one sentence summarizing the “Take-home-message.”
Exceptional Case
Word count: maximum 1000 words,
max 1-2 figures or tables
Keywords: maximum 4
References: max 10
The order of case reports should be as follows:
1. Title page giving details of all authors, including first or given name, and affiliation
2. On a separate page an abstract of 100 words summarising the case and its importance
3. Keywords not more than 4, in alphabetical order, characterizing the case.
4. On a new page: Background, Case Report(s), Discussion, Acknowledgements, References, Tables, Legends to figures and Figures. All pages should be numbered consecutively commencing with the title page. Headings (Introduction; Case report(s), etc) should be placed on separate lines. It is important that authors number their pages prior to submission as reviewers will refer to particular pages when providing their comments on the manuscript.
Exceptional cases should provide unique insight into the pathophysiology of disease or describe novel clinical observations. Descriptions of rare diseases will only be considered if they provide new information about the condition. All other case reports should be submitted to NDT Plus.
Letters to the editor
Word count: maximum 450 words
References: maximum 5, including the reference to the original source
Letters to the editor will only be considered for publication in NDT when they relate to papers recently published in NDT. They will be sent to the authors of the original source for reply.
Short Communications
Word count: maximum 1000 words, including abstract but excluding references, tables and figures.
Keywords: maximum 6
References: maximum 35
Organisation of these papers is the same as for Original Articles.
13. PREPARATION OF PUBLICATIONS TO BE PUBLISHED IN NDT PLUS
Teaching Points
Word count: maximum 2300 (excluding reference list) – no abstract. Figures, graphs and algorithms should be limited to 6.
Keywords: 3-4
References: maximum 15 and avoid textbook chapters
The NDT Teaching Point Section is aimed at a wide spectrum of readers, from trainees to the most experienced nephrologists. They will be mostly based on a case, or cases, that posed an unusual diagnostic problem owing to their rarity, or to an uncommon, misleading presentation. The goal of this section is to provide practical information on the diagnostic and/or therapeutic approach that will be appropriate, should a similar case come to the reader's attention.
The manuscript should comprise a short introduction, no more than 3 case histories, a discussion focussed on the relevant literature and emphasizing the diagnostic/therapeutic problem that confronted the Authors, a brief conclusion and no fewer than 3 and no more than 4 numbered, concise teaching points.
Case Reports
Word count: maximum 1000 words,
max 1-2 figures or tables
Keywords: maximum 4
References: max 10
The order of case reports should be as follows:
1. Title page giving details of all authors, including first or given name, and affiliation
2. On a separate page an abstract of 100 words summarising the case and its importance
3. Keywords not more than 4, in alphabetical order, characterizing the case.
4. On a new page: Background, Case Report(s), Discussion, Acknowledgements, References, Tables, Legends to figures and Figures. All pages should be numbered consecutively commencing with the title page. Headings (Introduction; Case report(s), etc) should be placed on separate lines. It is important that authors number their pages prior to submission as reviewers will refer to particular pages when providing their comments on the manuscript.
Clinical reviews
Word count: maximum 4000- an abstract of 100 words. Authors may include 3-4 figures or tables
Keywords: 3-4 and subheadings are required
References: max 80
These reviews are usually solicited by the editors and are comprehensive clinical and practice-oriented reviews of specific topics in nephrology. Potential authors may suggest topics for clinical reviews for consideration by the editors.
Images in Nephrology
Word count: 300 words – no abstract
Keywords: 3-4
References: 3-4
Images in Nephrology aims to publish 1 or 2 high resolution pictures of great clinical interest accompanying a minimal amount of text and references.
Nephroquiz
Word count: maximum 500 – no abstract
Keywords:3-4
References: maximum 5
The nephroquiz section should composed as follows:
1. A clear question should be followed by a concise answer.
2. Only one question should be formulated
3. The Nephroquiz should not be written in textbook style
4. Illustrative figures always help and facilitate visual embedding for the reader
Letters to the editor not related to papers previously published in NDT:
Letters to the editor will only be considered for publication in NDT Plus when they do not relate to papers published in NDT.
14. OPEN ACCESS OPTION FOR AUTHORS
NDT authors have the option, at an additional charge, to make their paper freely available online immediately upon publication, under the Oxford Open initiative. After your manuscript is accepted, as part of the mandatory licence form required of all corresponding authors, you will be asked to indicate whether or not you wish to pay to have your paper made freely available immediately. If you do not select the Open Access option, your paper will be published with standard subscription-based access and you will not be charged.
For those selecting the Open Access option, the charges for NDT vary depending on the institution at which the Corresponding author is based.
Optional Oxford Open charges:
For a Corresponding author based at an institution with an online subscription to NDT:
Regular charge - £900 / $1800 / €1350
List B developing country charge** - £450 / $900 / €675
List A developing country charge** - £0 / $0 / €0
For a Corresponding author based at an institution that does not subscribe to the online journal:
Regular charge - £1500 / $3000 / €2250
List B developing country charge** - £750 / $1500 / €1125
List A developing country charge** - £0 /$0 / €0
*Visit http://www.oxfordjournals.org/jnls/devel/ for list of qualifying countries.
The above Open Access charges are in addition to any page charges and colour charges that might apply.
Orders from UK will be subject to a 17.5% VAT charge. For orders from the rest of the EU, we will assume that the service is provided for business purposes, please provide a VAT number for yourself or your institution and ensure you account for your own local VAT correctly.
If you choose the Open Access option you will also be asked to complete an Open Access charge form online. You will be automatically directed to the appropriate version of the form depending on whether you are based at an institution with an online subscription to NDT. Therefore, please make sure that you are using an institutional computer when accessing the form. To check whether you are based at a subscribing institution please use the Subscriber Test link for NDT.
15. PAGE CHARGES
Authors will be charged £70/$140/€100 for every excess page. Excess page charges will be charged for articles that exceed: 5 pages for an Original Article, 3 pages for a Case Report, Technical Report or Brief Report, and 1 page for a Letter.
Case Reports must be 3 pages or less, and the standard length of a Letter to the Editor is 450 words. A printed page is ~850 words, but pro rata reductions in the length of the text must be made for tables, figures and illustrations.
In the proof email there is a reminder of the excess page charges levied on manuscripts that are over length. It is the authors’ responsibility to check their proof page extent and act accordingly if they are do not wish to be charge for excess pages. Orders from the UK will be subject to a 17.5% VAT charge. For orders from elsewhere in the EU you or your institution should account for VAT by way of a reverse charge. Please provide us with your or your institution’s VAT number.
16. OFFPRINTS
The authors will receive electronic access to their paper free of charge. Additional printed offprints may be obtained in multiples of 100. Rates are indicated on the order form, which must be returned with the proofs.
17. AUTHOR SELF-ARCHIVING/PUBLIC ACCESS POLICY
For information about this journal's policy, please visit our Author Self-Archiving policy page.
18. EDITORIAL ENQUIRIES:
N Lameire
NDT Editorial Office
4K4
University Hospital Ghent
De Pintelaan 185
9000 GENT
Tel: 0032 (0)9 332 4402
Fax: 0032 (0)9 332 4403
For all general enquiries concerning submissions to NDT, please contact ndt@ugent.be
19. PRODUCTION ENQUIRIES
Production Editor, Nephrology Dialysis Transplantation
Journals Production
Oxford University Press
Great Clarendon Street
Oxford OX2 6DP, UK
Tel: +44 1865 354957
Fax: +44 1865 353798
Email: Oxford Journals NDT




