INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS
Last updated on May 4, 2020
Overview
The Journal Acta Gastro-Enterologica Belgica principally publishes peer-reviewed original manuscripts, reviews, letters to editors, book reviews and guidelines in the field of clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, including digestive oncology, digestive pathology, as well as nutrition. Pure animal or in vitro work will not be considered for publication in the Journal. Translational research papers (including sections of animal or in vitro work) are considered by the Journal if they have a clear relationship to or relevance for clinical hepato-gastroenterology (screening, disease mechanisms and/or new therapies). Case reports and clinical images will be accepted if they represent an important contribution to the description, the pathogenesis or the treatment of a specific gastroenterology or liver problem. The language of the Journal is English. Papers from any country will be considered for publication. Manuscripts submitted to the Journal should not have been published previously (in English or any other language), nor should they be under consideration for publication elsewhere. Unsolicited papers are peer-reviewed before it is decided whether they should be accepted, rejected, or returned for revision. Manuscripts that do not meet the presentation criteria (as indicated below) will be returned to the authors. Papers that go too far beyond the scope of the journal will be also returned to the authors by the editorial board generally within 2 weeks. The Journal reserves the right to edit the language of papers accepted for publication for clarity and correctness, and to make formal changes to ensure compliance with AGEB’s style. Authors have the opportunity to review such changes in the proofs.
1. Submission of manuscripts
Submissions are only possible through the online submission platform. You can log into the platform by using the following link http://gastro-enterologica.universa.be.
Once you have created your account, you will be able to proceed with your submission. Please save your account credentials in a secure place, you will need them at a later stage. You will also receive them by email after creation of your account.
After submission of your manuscript, your will receive a manuscript number/registration code; please use this manuscript number in every correspondence with the Editorial Office or the Editor-in-chief.
Please note that this online submission platform is hosted by our publisher Universa and managed by the editor-in-chief and the associate editors (and not by the editorial office of AGEB).
If you encounter technical problems with the online submission platform, you can click on the right of the screen on the “Support” button (orange button); this action will create a ticket and a person in charge of the platform will treat your ticket as soon as possible. You can also click on Contact Us (in the upper left corner of the screen) to see the details of the publisher or send an email to tickets@universa.uservoice.com.
2. Presentation of manuscripts
Authors are invited to submit the following types of paper for consideration: original articles, case reports (with restriction), letters to the editor, reviews, expert point of view, clinical images, articles from symposia or meetings, consensus conferences and guidelines from scientific societies.
Documents (A, B and C) must be submitted to http://gastro-enterologica.universa.be:
A) The Copyright Form
The "Acta Gastro-EnterologicaBelgica: Exclusive Licence Form" must be filled out and uploaded as a supplementary file after submission of your manuscript, this can be done at a later stage. After finishing your submission, you will receive an automated email with a registration code. You will need this registration code when completing your copyright form.
The copyright form can be downloaded in an editable Word format by following this link: http://gastro-enterologica.universa.be/copyright_form. The copyright form can also be downloaded as editable Word document and as pdf from the AGEB website: http://www.ageb.be.
• Complete the 4 pages of the copyright form, sign and date them and scan them into ONE pdf file.
• Upload your Copyright form pdf in the submission platform (http://gastro-enterologica.universa.be, author centre) as a “Supplementary file”.
An accepted paper can only be published if the copyright form is in place in the online submission platform.
B) The manuscript pages
should be numbered in the lower right corner starting after the title page. In the text, abbreviations should be kept to a minimum and given within brackets following the fully spelled expression on first use. Commercial names of products should be avoided if possible. The use of commercial names of products in the manuscript title is not allowed.
The manuscript should be submitted as ONE Microsoft Office Word document, font 12, and MUST contain the following sections:
A title page WITHIN the main document including the following items:
• Full title without abbreviations.
• Names of all the authors, starting with the initial of the first name: ex: J. Doe, G. Smith,
Z. Gonzalez-Martinez
• Main affiliation of each author.
• Corresponding author’s name, full address, fax and e-mail.
• Number of figures and number of tables.
• Word count (including abstract, references, tables and figure legends).
• Conflict of interest statement: a statement to declare any conflict of interest. All authors are
requested to disclose any potential conflict of interest including any financial activities,
additional affiliations, personal or other relationships with other people or organizations that
could influence, or be perceived to influence, their work, such as employment, consultancies,
stock ownership, honoraria, patent applications/registrations, grants or other funding.
Abstract (summary)
An abstract is required for all contributions (except for letters to the editor and clinical images), with a total length of 250 words maximum, subdivided as follows for original articles:
• Background and study aims: no more than two sentences outlining previous work in this area and defining the aims of the study.
• Patients and methods: relevant data on patients, study design (prospective or retrospective) and parameters.
• Results: presenting the most relevant data.
• Conclusions: one or two sentences with a special emphasis on the clinical conclusions to be drawn from the study.
• Keywords: please provide 3-4 keywords below your abstract, separated by semicolons (e.g., steatosis; insulin; fibrosis; microbiota). The keywords should be different than the tittle words.
Main text
Original articles should present the results of original research in the form of a full-length study. They should not exceed 6500 words in total (with inclusion of the abstract, maximum 60 references, tables and figure legends) and have a maximum of 5 tables and 5 figures.
They should be structured as follows in 1 main document: 1) A title page including the title, authors, affiliations as well as the address, email and fax number of the corresponding author, 2) a structured abstract (maximum 250 words) + up to 6 keywords should be provided and placed after the abstract, 3) an Introduction, 4) the Methods, 5) the Results, 6) The Discussion and 7) up to maximum 60 references.
Figures (jpeg or TIFF) and tables (Word document) should be uploaded as separate files (supplementary files). Figures should have a resolution of 300dpi or more (preferred).
Case series are preferred over simple case reports. Isolated case reports will only be accepted if they highlight important innovations with wide applicability, or previously unpublished complications of new techniques or medications.
They should contain a maximum of 1800 words in total, with no more than 15 references (word count included in the 1800 words). Only 2 tables and 2 figures/illustrations are permitted (word count not included in the 1800 words).
The case report should be structured as follows in 1 main document: 1) A title page including the title, authors and affiliations as well as the address, email and fax number of the corresponding author 2) a short abstract of maximum 150 words + up to 6 keywords should be included after the abstract, 3) an introduction, 4) the case history, 5) the discussion and 6) the references.
Figures (jpeg or TIFF) and tables (word document) should be uploaded as separate files (supplementary files). Figures should have a resolution of 300dpi or more (preferred).
Letters to the editor must not exceed 600 words in total (with inclusion of maximum 6 references in total) + no more than 2 figures and 2 tables(wordcount of figures and tables are not included in the 600 words).
A letter must be structured as follows in 1 main document: 1) A title page including the title, authors, affiliations as well as the address, email and fax number of the corresponding author, 2) the main document starting with “To the Editor”, 3) a maximum of 6 references.
Figures (jpeg or TIFF) and tables (word document) should be uploaded as separate files (supplementary files). Figures should have a resolution of 300dpi or more (preferred).
Review papers should have no more than 8000 words of text, with a maximum of 200 references (word count included in the 8000 words). Maximum 5 Tables and 5 Figures are permitted.
They should be structured as follows in 1 main document: 1) A title page including the title, authors, affiliations as well as the address, email and fax number of the corresponding author, 2) an abstract of maximum 250 words, the abstract should be followed by up to 6 keywords, 3) a structured main text, 4) a conclusion and prospects for future research, 5) up to maximum 200 references.
Figures (jpeg or TIFF) and tables (word document) should be uploaded as separate files. Figures should have a resolution of 300dpi or more (preferred)
Symposium papers should have no more than 4000 words of text with a maximum of 100 references (word count included in the 4000 words). Maximum 5 Tables and 5 Figures are permitted.
They should be structured as follows in 1 main document: 1) A title page including the title, authors, affiliations as well as the address, email and fax number of the corresponding author, 2) an abstract of maximum 250 words, followed by up to 6 keywords, 3) a structured main text, 4) a conclusion and prospects for future research, 5) up to maximum 100 references.
Figures (jpeg or TIFF) and tables (word document) should be uploaded as separate files. Figures should have a resolution of 300dpi or more (preferred).
Short reviews are solicited by the editors. They should have no more than 2500 words of text with a maximum of 100 references (word count included in the 2500 words) + maximum 2 Tables and 2 Figures (word count of tables and figures are not included in the 2500 words).
They should be structured as follows in 1 main document: 1) A title page including the title, authors, affiliations as well as the address, email and fax number of the corresponding author, 2) an abstract of maximum 250 words, followed by up to 6 keywords, 3) a structured main text, 4) a conclusion and prospects for future research, 5) up to 100 references maximum.
Figures (jpeg or TIFF) and tables (word document) should be uploaded as separate files (supplementary files). Figures should have a resolution of 300dpi or more (preferred).
Expert point of views or Guidelines should have no more than 8000 words of text with a maximum of 150 references (word count included in the 8000 words) + maximum 5 Tables and 5 Figures (word count of tables and figures are not included in the 8000 words).
They should be structured as follows in 1 main document: 1) A title page including the title, authors, affiliations as well as the address, email and fax number of the corresponding author, 2) an abstract of maximum 250 words, followed by up to 6 keywords, 3) a structured main text, 4) a conclusion,
5) up to 150 references maximum.
Figures (jpeg or TIFF) and tables (word document) should be uploaded as separate files (supplementary files). Figures should have a resolution of 300dpi or more (preferred).
A “Clinical image” should be of clinical relevance and should be presented very shortly as a quiz. The paper should have a maximum of 400 words, with maximum 3 references(word count included in the 400 words) + maximum 2 figuresof 300dpi or more(word count not included in the 400 words). The answer must be short. An abstract is not required.
Book reviews (between 350 and 600 words) are invited comments on a recent book in the field of gastroenterology/hepatology. They should be timely and objective. Figures: one figure of the book cover is required and a maximum of 2 supplementary figures are authorised (so a maximum of 3 figures in total). References: a minimum of one reference (of the book discussed) is required, two other references could be added if necessary.
They should be structured as follows in 1 main document: 1) A title page including the title, authors, affiliations as well as the address, email and fax number of the corresponding author, 2) the main text, 3) up to 3 references maximum. An abstract is not required.
Figures (jpeg or TIFF) should be uploaded as separate files (supplementary files). Figures should have a resolution of 300dpi or more (preferred).
Editorials are solicited and contain no more than 1200 words in length, no more than 1 Figure of 300 dpi or more and 1 Table and a maximum of 20 references. Editorials usually provide commentary and analysis in relation to an article published in the same issue in which they appear.
References
Number the references consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. Identify references in text, tables, and legends by Arabic numerals placed in round brackets. In the numbered reference list at the end of the text, use the style of the examples below.
Add the necessary punctuation-marks showed in bold in example 13.
Article (list all authors up to 6, otherwise list the first 6 authors followed by ‘et al.’ (in italic):
13. ADLER M., GOUBAU P., NEVENS F. Hepatitis C virus: the burden of the disease. Acta Gastroenterol. Belg., 2002, 65:: 83-86.
Book:
18. DAY R.A. How to write and publish a scientific paper. Philadelphia : Institute for Scientific Information, 1979.
Chapter in a book:
22. COSTA M., FURNESS J.B., LLEWELLYN-SMITH I.F. Histochemistry of the enteric nervous system. In : JOHNSON L.R. (ed). Physiology of the gastrointestinal tract. Volume 1. 2nd ed. New York : Raven, 1987 : 1-40.
References to websites are strongly discouraged. If needed, citations for websites should look just the same as citations for conventional resources. The following information has to be given: Authors (surname followed by first initials), Year, Title, Publisher, Date viewed and then full web address. Example:
24. EUROPEAN SOCIETY OF GASTROINTESTINAL ENDOSCOPY, 2020, ESGE and ESGENA Position Statement on gastrointestinal endoscopy and the COVID-19 pandemic Update 1, Thieme, viewed 10 April 2020, .
Tables
Each table must be referred to in the text of the manuscript and be numbered (ex. Table 1). Each table + the table title must be typed on a separate page, uploaded as a separate file and should fit an A4 page vertically. List below the table all the abbreviations contained in the table.
Legends for figures should be typed on a separate page within the main manuscript document. List all the abbreviations contained in the figure.
C) The Figures (in black and white or in colour) should be uploaded as separate files (JPG, 300 dpi at least). Each Figure must be referred to in the text of the manuscript and be numbered (ex. Fig. 1).
The figure label should include a letter referring to the text. Text presented in the figures should be in Arialfont between6-10 pts. Panel labels must be in Arial font 16 pts bold letters (A, B, C). Figures inserted into Powerpoint presentations or Word documents are not acceptable. As indicated previously, figure legends should be included at the end of the main manuscript document.
3. Review process
All manuscripts (except symposium articles, invited reviews and letters to the Editor which are usually reviewed by the organizer and the Editorial Board) are peer-reviewed by the editors and usually submitted to one (case series/case reports), two (original articles, reviews) or three reviewers (in case of disagreement). Names of reviewers may be suggested by corresponding authors.
Referees are requested to answer within 30 days or send back the manuscript if they cannot comply with this regulation. Decisions of the reading committee (reviewers and editorial board) are as follows:
• The paper can be accepted for publication without further changes.
• The paper can be accepted for publication after minor changes that must be addressed.
• The paper can be accepted for publication after a major revision. In this case, the authors should provide a clear point-by-point reply to all remarks of the referee on a separate sheet and provide one copy of the manuscript with the changes highlighted in bold.The paper is then resubmitted to the referees for final decision.
• The paper does not meet priorities of the Journal and is not to be considered for publication in Acta Gastro-EnterologicaBelgica.
4. Reprints
Reprints must be ordered in advance. An order form indicating the cost of the reprints will be provided by the publisher Universa Press, together with the page proofs (pdf).
The costs of these reprints depend on the number of pages and of course the number of reprints.
The corresponding author receives, from the publisher Universa Press, the pdf of the accepted article as soon as it is final for publication.
5. Copyrights
All copyrights are held by Acta Gastro-EnterologicaBelgicavzw/asbl, including the right to reproduce all or part of any publication.
