Author Guidelines

Submissions can only be made online at www.editorialmanager.com/safpj. Authors need to register online with the journal prior to submitting a manuscript. Once registered, simply log in and begin an easy 5 step process to upload your manuscript. All manuscripts must be submitted in MS Word®, Open Office, or RTF format using Times New Roman font size 10 and single-spacing. Headings must be in Bold. The author must always retain a copy. All the named authors must have approved the final manuscript. Pages should be numbered consecutively in the lower right corner. Please note that the Original Research section will follow a ";print-short, web-long"; policy, which means that only the abstracts will be published in print, with the full article published on the web. Some review articles may also be published under these provisions. The following contributions are accepted (word counts exclude abstracts, tables and references): 1. Original research (Between 1000 and 3500 words): 2. Letters to the Editor (Up to 400 words): 3. Scientific Letters (Less than 600 words): A short abstract is required (125-150 words) and should be structured under the following headings: background, methods, results and conclusion. One table or graph and not more than 5 references. 4. Review/CPD articles (Up to 1800 words): Most review articles are published as part of the continuous professional development (CPD) programme of SAFP. A scientific editor is appointed to approve topics, invite authors and to review the articles before they are independently peer-reviewed. All articles are reviewed by a family physician as well a topic specialist. Review articles outside the CPD programme are welcomed. Once accepted they may be published in full in the printed journal OR a 250 word abstract will be published in print with the full article available online. 5. Opinions (Open Forum) (Between 1000 and 3500 words). 6. Editorials (Between 600 - 800 words): Scientific editorials can be used to highlight progress in any scientific field related to family medicine. Please consult the Section Policies for more details regarding CPD articles. Format Title page: All articles must have a title page with the following information and in this particular order: Title of the article; surname, initials, qualifications and affiliation of each author; The name, postal address, e-mail address and telephonic contact details of the corresponding author; at least 5 keywords. Please do not use capital letters only for headings and names, but stick to the normal use of capital letters. Abstract. All articles should include an abstract. The structured abstract for an Original Research article should be between 200 and 250 words and should consist of four paragraphs labelled "Background, Methods, Results, and Conclusions". Only the abstract of Original Research articles will be published in print, and the abstract with the full article will be published online. It should briefly describe the problem or issue being addressed in the study, how the study was performed, the major results, and what the authors conclude from these results. The abstracts for other types of articles should also be no longer than 250 words and need not follow the structured abstract format. Keywords. All articles should include keywords. Up to five words or short phrases should be used. Use terms from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH) of Index Medicus when available and appropriate. Key words are used to index the article and may be published with the abstract. Acknowledgements. In a separate section, acknowledge any financial support received or possible conflict of interest. This section may also be used to acknowledge substantial contributions to the research or preparation of the manuscript made by persons other than the authors. References. Cite references in numerical order in the text, in superscript format. Do not use brackets. In the References section, references must be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are cited, not alphabetically. The style for references should follow the format set forth in the ";Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals"; prepared by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Abbreviations for journal titles should follow Index Medicus format. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of all references. Personal communications and unpublished data should not be referenced. If essential, such material should be incorporated in the appropriate place in the text. List all authors when there are six or fewer; when there are seven or more, list the first three, then "et al."; When citing URLs to web documents, place in the reference list, and use following format: Authors of document (if available). Title of document (if available). URL. (Accessed [date]). The following are sample references: 1. London L, Baillie R. Notification of Pesticide Poisoning: Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Doctors in the Rural Western Cape. S A Fam Pract 1999;20(1):117-20. 2. FDA Talk Paper: http://www.fda.gov/bbs/topics/ANSWERS/2002/ANS01151.html (Accessed 04/10/2002). Click here for more sample references. Tables. Tables should be self-explanatory, clearly organised, and supplemental to the text of the manuscript. Each table should include a clear descriptive title on top and numbered in Roman numerals (I, II, etc) in order of its appearance as called out in text. Tables must me inserted in the correct position in the text. Authors should place explanatory matter in footnotes, not in the heading. Explain in footnotes all nonstandard abbreviations. For footnotes use the following symbols, in sequence: *,†,‡,§,||,,**,††,‡‡ Figures. All figures must be inserted in the appropriate position of the electronic document. Symbols, lettering, and numbering (in Arabic numerals e.g. 1, 2, etc. in order of appearance in the text) should be placed below the figure, clear and large enough to remain legible after the figure has been reduced. Figures must have clear descriptive titles. Photographs and images: If photographs of patients are used, either the subject should not be identifiable or use of the picture should be authorised by an enclosed written permission from the subject. The position of photographs and images should be clearly indicated in the text. Electronic images should be saved as either jpeg or gif files. All photographs should be scanned at a high resolution (300dpi, print optimised). Provision is made to upload individual images on the website as supplementary files. Please number the images appropriately. Permission. Permission should be obtained from the author and publisher for the use of quotes, illustrations, tables, and other materials taken from previously published works, which are not in the public domain. The author is responsible for the payment of any copyright fee(s) if these have not been waived. The letters of permission should accompany the manuscript. The original source(s) should be mentioned in the figure legend or as a footnote to a table. Review and action. Manuscripts are initially examined by the editorial staff and are usually sent to independent reviewers who are not informed of the identity of the author(s). When publication in its original form is not recommended, the reviewers' comments (without the identity of the reviewer being disclosed) may be passed to the first author and may include suggested revisions. Manuscripts not approved for publication will not be returned. Ethical considerations. Papers based on original research must adhere to the Declaration of Helsinki on ";Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects"; and must specify from which recognised ethics committee approval for the research was obtained. Conflict of interest. Authors must declare all financial contributions to their work or other forms of conflict of interest, which may prevent them from executing and publishing unbiased research. [Conflict of interest exists when an author (or the author's institution), has financial or personal relationships with other persons or organizations that inappropriately influence (bias) his or her opinions or actions.]* *Modified from: Davidoff F, et al. Sponsorship, Authorship, and Accountability. (Editorial) JAMA 2001: 286(10) The following declaration may be used if appropriate: ";I declare that I have no financial or personal relationship(s) which may have inappropriately influenced me in writing this paper."; Submissions and correspondence. All submissions must be made online at www.editorialmanager.com.safpj and correspondence regarding manuscripts should be addressed to: The Editor, South African Family Practice, PO Box 14804, Lyttelton, 0140. Telephone: (012) 664 7460 General Facsimile: (012) 664 6276. href="mailto:editor@safpj.co.za"> editor@safpj.co.za