Submissions

Author Guidelines

Instructions for authors

Before reading these instructions, we recommend that you consult the journal's Politics Section.

The journal Investigaciones Médicoquirurgicas is aimed at professionals and technicians involved in the field of medical and health sciences, regardless of their geographic origin or social status. Its fundamental objective is to publish scientific articles that contribute to the development of medical and related sciences for the benefit of the public's health. This peer-reviewed journal includes original articles, academic reviews, case presentations, editorials, short communications, and letters to the editor.

The Guidelines for Authors of the journal Investigaciones Médicoquirurgicas are intended to standardize the submission of articles for review by reviewers and the editorial board. Failure to comply with these guidelines will render the articles ineligible for publication.

Articles must be submitted through the online platform www.revcimeq.sld.cu

Articles written in Spanish and English will be accepted.

Medicoquirúrgicas Research accepts articles from preprint servers. SciELO Preprints is recommended for these purposes.

Ethical Considerations

Research involving human subjects must be framed and comply with the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki (https://www.wma.net/es/policies-post/declaracion-de-helsinki-de-la-wma-principios-eticos-para-las-investigaciones-medicas-en-seres-humanos/)

For research involving experimental animals, the ethical standards contained in the International Guidelines on Principles for Biomedical Research Involving Animals (https://www.humane-endpoints.info/es/iclas grants.nih.gov/grants/olaw/Guiding_Principles_2012.pdf)

 must be met.

 

Investigaciones Médicoquirurgicas is an OPEN ACCESS journal and does not charge any publication fees at any stage of the editorial process. Therefore, all its content is freely accessible without restrictions.

 

The journal uses a Creative Commons License (cc-by), which authorizes any exploitation of its content, including the creation of derivative works. Distribution of these works is also permitted without restrictions, provided that the author is specifically acknowledged, that is, that their name appears in any use or exploitation of the work.

 

Articles must not contain excerpts from previously published works or works in the process of being published in journals or other media without proper citation. If they are from the author(s), they are considered self-citations. Up to 15% of self-citations are permitted in an article.

Any ethical violations related to the study or research will be resolved using the protocols established by the International Committee on Scientific Publication Ethics (COPE).

 

 

 

 

GENERAL STRUCTURE OF ARTICLES

Use Times New Roman font, size 12, 1.5 spacing, and justified text.

The first page should contain

The Title (must not exceed 15 words, in Spanish and English). Do not include the word "Title."

The full names of all authors, arranged according to their participation, and include the ORCID number as a mandatory element. (The ORCID number must contain, at least, essential information such as institutions and main contributions. Authors with empty ORCID records will not be accepted.)

Institutional affiliations of each author (not positions or academic or scientific degrees). The following structure should be followed: institution, faculty, city, country.

Example: University of Medical Sciences of Havana. Faculty of Medical Sciences "Victoria de Girón". Havana, Cuba.

 

1. Second page:

A structured abstract in the form of a continuous but organized text (introduction, objective, method, main results, conclusions). It should not exceed 250 words. Do not use acronyms or abbreviations.

If the research is a clinical trial, the registration number and verification number must be included in the abstract.

Keywords: Separated by semicolons (;). They must be specific and representative of the semantic content of the document, both in the main and secondary content. They must contain at least three keywords or phrases. The DeCs/MeSH (Descriptors in Health Sciences) tool is recommended. https://decs.bvsalud.org/es/

List of abbreviations: in the same order in which they appear in the text. The full term replaced by an abbreviation must precede it. Units should preferably be expressed according to the international system (SI). Units of measurement should only be abbreviated when used with numbers. Chemical, physical, biological, and clinical units must always be strictly defined. Abbreviations appearing in tables and figures must be defined in their footnotes.

2. Development (according to the type of article)
3. Bibliographic references and citation method

Delimit according to the order in which they appear in the text, using superscript Arabic numerals in parentheses, after punctuation marks, and without spaces. For several consecutive citations, no more than four are recommended in each citation.

Example: ...medicine in the world. ^(2,3)(2-4)

The bibliographic style is Vancouver: https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html;

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7256/)

Up-to-date references must be used, with more than 75% from the last 5 years for review articles and 70% for all other articles, except for rare case reports.

Journal titles must be abbreviated using the Index Medicus (List of journals indexed in Index Medicus).

The BIBLIOGRAPHIC REFERENCES list must be a manual numerical list. The URL or DOI must be provided in all cases.

When a URL is used, the access date must be in the following order and format:

[accessed: dd/mm/yyyy]. When using the DOI, no date of consultation is given and only the locator is referenced, for example: DOI: 10.1109/5.bb1073.

Burgueño B, Ruiz I, Villacastín ME, Pintado R. Ascitis en el paciente no cirrótico. Medicine Programa de Formación Médica Continuada Acreditado.[Internet].2024[acceso:13/09/2025];14(12):641-650. Disponible en: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.med.2024.06.001

Bhutta ZA, Darmstadt GL, Hasan BS, Haws RA. Community-based interventions for improving perinatal and neonatal health outcomes in developing countries: a review of the evidence. Pediatrics. [Internet].2005 Feb;115(2 Suppl):519-617. doi:10.1542/peds.2004-1441.

4. Final Page

At the end of the manuscript, a Declaration of Conflicts of Interest and Funding Source(s) or financial information (the latter, if applicable) must be included.

All research articles, short communications, review articles, and systematic reviews must include an Author Contributions section. When the author is a sole author, this section should include "Sole Author." This section should follow the Declaration of Conflicts of Interest and funding information.

Describe contributions concisely and use the CRediT taxonomy (https://credit.niso.org/).

Authorship roles should be identified in the order listed below, including each author in their corresponding role(s), omitting any roles that are not applicable in each case.

(After the colon, add the full names of the authors, without academic or scientific degrees, separated by commas in all cases.)

Conceptualization:

Data Curation:

Formal Analysis:

Funding Acquisition:

Research:

Methodology:

Project Administration:

Resources:

Software:

Supervision:

Validation:

Visualization:

Writing - Original Draft:

Writing - Review and Editing:

If changes are requested from the authors during the editorial process, a supplementary file describing the changes must be sent. Once the manuscript is accepted, changes to the author will not be permitted.

Artificial Intelligence (AI)

The use of Artificial Intelligence is not prohibited during data processing and manuscript writing, but it is important to keep the following aspects in mind:

1. A declaration of the use of AI is required in the Methods section, regardless of the purpose of its use in the construction of the manuscript.
2. AI is not an author, as it lacks the capacity for analysis and reflection like a human being; therefore, it will not appear anywhere in the manuscript under this condition.
3. The use of AI without a declaration by the authors immediately leads to consideration of malpractice in the publication process and, therefore, the invalidity of the submission.

Data Availability Statement (for original articles and short communications)

State the source of the published data that support the results of the original articles and systematic reviews. This statement should be included in a new section after the "Generative AI and AI-Assisted Technologies Statement." This section will be titled "Data Availability Statement." The following statements will be used:

- The data supporting the study's findings are available in an open repository: (indicating the DOI. We recommend using Mendeley Data: https://data.mendeley.com/?dgcid=em-letter_editorial_mendeleydata).

- The data supporting the study's findings are available from the corresponding author upon reasoned request.

- The data supporting the study's findings are not available (indicate the reason).

BASIC STRUCTURE BY ARTICLE TYPE

Editorials, Events, Obituaries, and Recognitions will be commissioned or submitted by members of the editorial board.

Randomized clinical trials must be reported according to the CONSORT guidelines (www.consort-statement.org) and registered as clinical trials in any of the internationally certified public clinical trials registries. For cohort, case-control, and cross-sectional studies, the STROBE guidelines (www.strobe-statement.org) must be followed. For diagnostic accuracy studies, the STARD guidelines (www.stard-statement.org) are recommended.

Letter to the Editor

Allows a journal's readers to express their comments on a topic, questions, or criticisms of previously published articles. It should not exceed 500 words, not including references.

Characteristics

• A critical opinion is issued regarding a public health issue.
• An opinion is offered on some aspects of the journal's editorial policy.
• Some aspects of a recently published work (in the latest volume) in the journal are expanded upon, interpreted, or explained.
• The results of a study are discussed, or methodological or interpretive flaws in the results of a recently published work (in the latest volume) in the journal are pointed out.
• A clinical or experimental finding not previously described in the literature may be reported.
• It should not be longer than two pages.
• It should not have more than five references.

Structure

• Title.
• Full name of the person addressed, and their position on the editorial board below.
• Text.
• Author's full name, and their academic level and email address below.
• Bibliographic references, if any.

Original articles

• 3,000 words will be accepted, including text, tables, and figure captions. Bibliographic references will be excluded. No more than five graphic presentations or contingency tables. The maximum reference limit will be 35.
• Introduction: Current status of the research topic. Contribution of the research. The objectives should be included clearly and concisely, appropriate to the type of study, at the end of the introduction.
• Method: Must be detailed so that they can be reproduced by other researchers. This section includes the type of research, universe, sample, method for obtaining the sample size, selection criteria, variables, procedures used, statistical analysis, and ethical aspects. When describing experiments performed on animals, it must be guaranteed that all animals were treated humanely in accordance with the standards published by an international scientific research council or institution, or a national law on the care and use of laboratory animals.
• Results: All tables and figures must be mentioned. Avoid unnecessary repetition of data. Findings must be presented with appropriate error or uncertainty indicators (such as confidence intervals). Numerical results must be presented with absolute values ​​and percentages. Tables, graphs, and/or figures must be inserted into the text.
• Tables and Figures:

Tables must be identified with Arabic numerals and a title in the top margin. Do not duplicate material presented in a figure. All unusual abbreviations must be explained in footnotes.

Figures must be numbered with Arabic numerals in the order in which they appear in the text. They must have a title (which should not appear within the figure itself). Captions must contain sufficient information to allow for accurate interpretation, making it unnecessary to consult the text. All abbreviations and symbols must be explained. If the material is copyrighted, indicate that permission has been obtained and send a scanned attachment of this permission.

Photographs of identifiable persons must be accompanied by a signed release attesting to informed consent. They must be submitted at a resolution of 300 pixels/inch and in editable format (jpg or tiff) with a minimum size of 10 cm wide. If figures contain text, use a font size of 8 to 10 points.

Figures should not repeat data already included in the text. Photographs of objects and photomicrographs should include a scale that allows for calibrating measurements. Symbols and arrows positioned to facilitate interpretation should contrast with the background. The names of patients, hospitals, or physicians, or any other identifying information, should not be included. For reproduction, black and white photomicrographs are preferable to color ones. Color illustrations should only be included when they are vitally important for understanding the document. The maximum number of figures and tables may not exceed six.

• Discussion: Should not repeat or contain new results. Comparisons with other studies should be made. Possible causes of the differences found between the expected and observed results should be described. The limitations of the study should be discussed, taking into account possible sources of bias or imprecision.
• Conclusions or overall considerations: consistency between the objectives, study design, and the results of the analysis. These should be placed at the end of the article, in paragraph form, without numbering or bullet points. The practical utility of the intervention as a whole is considered, and contributions from this study for future research are suggested.

Systematic reviews or meta-analyses

5,000 words will be accepted, including text, tables, and figure captions. References will be excluded. No more than 3 figures and 3 tables. The maximum reference limit is 50.

Only systematic reviews and meta-analyses that follow the structure of the COCHRANE or PRISMA guidelines will be accepted.

Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions

https://es.cochrane.org/sites/es.cochrane.org/files/public/uploads/manual_cochrane_510_web.pdf

Other references

http://www.prismastatement.org/documents/Hutton%20NMA%20Spanish%20Medicina%20Clinica%202016.pdf

https://www.paho.org/journal/sites/default/files/09--SPEC--Welch--60-67_RD6.pdf

References. 75% updated.

Case Presentations

Up to 3000 words will be accepted, not including bibliographic references. No more than 3 figures. No more than 15 bibliographic references should be included.

Case reports must follow the CARE guidelines for acceptance  https://www-care--statement-org.translate.goog/?_x_tr_sl=en&_x_tr_tl=es&_x_tr_hl=es&_x_tr_pto=tc.

We advise authors to adhere strictly to the cited document.

(Introduction, clinical case, comments, bibliographic references)

Short Communications

Up to 1,500 words will be accepted, including text, tables, and figure captions. Bibliographic references will be excluded. No more than 15 up-to-date, topic-related references should be included.

These are similar to original articles, as they follow the same rigor, format, and guidelines, but are designed for small-scale research or research in the early stages of development. These may include preliminary studies that use a simple research design or a small sample size and have produced limited pilot data and initial findings that indicate the need for further research. Short reports are much shorter than manuscripts associated with a more advanced, larger-scale research project.

Briefly explain the topic to be presented.

• - Questions, relevance, or objective(s) of the topic.
• - Main comments.
• - Overall considerations.
• - Statement of the authoritative commentary or opinion.
• - Briefly present the topic and final considerations with clarity, precision, and coherence.

Bibliographic References and Citation Method

Specify according to the order of mention in the text, using superscript Arabic numerals in parentheses after punctuation marks. Example: ...medicine in the world.(2,3)

The bibliographic style is Vancouver.

Articles from scientific journals are considered up-to-date when they are published in the last 5 years and books within the last 10 years. The percentage is specified for each type of article.

Citations of relevant, up-to-date documents published in peer-reviewed journals should be included. References to personal communications and unpublished documents such as theses, web pages, etc. should be avoided. References from journals indexed in SciELO, Scopus, WOS, or Pubmed should be used preferably.

All authors of the cited text should be listed; if there are 7 or more authors, the first 6 should be mentioned, followed by "et al." Journal titles will be abbreviated according to the Index Medicus (List of journals indexed in Index Medicus).

No capital letters or underlining will be used.

Self-citations should be avoided, as they will be taken into account when evaluating each article by the editors.

Most common examples:

Conferences/congresses/meetings/seminars

Vargas C, Hernández A, Gómez A, Valenzuela M, Palma R. Perfil de 247 pacientes

ingresados por enfermedad cerebrovascular en servicio de neurología durante 2005.

En: Libro de resúmenes: XXIX Congreso Científico Nacional de Estudiantes de Medicina

ANACEM -CHILE. Santiago; Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile; 2006. p. 14

Book/Book Chapter

Hernández R, Fernández C, Baptista P. Metodología de la investigación. 3 ed. México:

McGraw-Hill; 2003. p. 705

Kasper D, Fauci A, Stephen H, Longo D, Jameson JL, Loscalzo J, editores. Harrison:

Principios de Medicina Interna. [Internet]. 19 ed. Madrid: McGraw Hill; 2016 [citado 2016

nov 20]. Disponible en:

http://harrisonmedicina.mhmedical.com/book.

Magazine/Magazine Article

Florido Pérez I, Jiménez Núñez MI, Jaime Pacheco MD. Atención de enfermería en el

traumatismo ocular en el ámbito de la atención primaria de salud. DocEnferm. 2013;

50(2): p. 16-20.

Povedan-Montero FJ, López-Muñoz F, Hidalgo-Santa Cruz F. Análisis bibliométrico de la

producción científica española en el área de la Optometría. Arch. Soc. Esp. Oftalmol

[Internet] 2016 [consultado 2019 Sep 17]; 91(4): p. 160-165. Disponible en:

https://bit.ly/373LSgV

Thesis

Anabalón J, Soto N, Villar T. Administración estratégica de un modelo de calidad balanced

score card: caso laboratorio clínico MeBiTec [Tesis de Magister]. Santiago, Chile:

Universidad Andrés Bello; 2008. p. 289

About Tables and Figures (more detailed in the description of original articles)

• - The total number of figures and tables will not exceed 5 for original and review articles. A maximum of 3 will be allowed for short communications.
• - They will be presented interspersed throughout the article, vertically numbered consecutively.
• - The title must adequately correspond to its content. The information they present must justify its existence. They must not repeat information already mentioned in the text.
• - Tables must conform to the publication's format, and the publisher may modify them if they present technical difficulties. They must not exceed 580 pixels in width.
• - Decimal numbers must be composed of commas "," and not periods ",".
• - All tables and appendices must have their title and the source of the data represented, as long as they do not come from databases or proprietary information that the author uses and cites in their methods; in which case, the source is omitted.
• - Photographs, graphs, drawings, diagrams, maps, other graphic representations and non-linear formulas will be called figures and will have consecutive Arabic numbering.
• - Photographs must be presented with clarity and contrast, and with a dimension perceptible to the human eye. All photographs must be mentioned in the text and accompanied by a caption or explanatory note.
• - Photographs not belonging to the author must include the source.
• - Graphics must be included in an editable format for editorial adjustments during the article layout process. Avoid presenting them in image formats (JPG, GIF, etc.).
• - Titles must be included at the bottom of the page, and, if necessary, declare the use of external sources.

Abbreviations and Acronyms

• - They will not be used in the abstract or the title.
• - They will be preceded by your full name the first time they appear in the text.
• - Internationally accepted units will be used.
• - International System of Units (SI). All clinical laboratory results will be reported in SI units or units permitted by SI. If you wish to add traditional units, they will be written in parentheses. Example: blood glucose: 5.55 mmol/L (100 mg/100 mL).

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to ensure that their submission meets all of the following criteria. Submissions that do not meet these guidelines will be returned to authors.

1. The submission has not been previously published nor has it been considered by any other journal (this does not apply to manuscripts from preprint repositories, which are accepted).
2. The file is in Open Office, Microsoft Word, or RTF format.
3. The document has the word count (or fewer) specified in the instructions to authors section.
4. All authors are listed with their full names, institutional affiliations, and ORCID numbers.
5. Author contact information (first and last name, institution, and email address) has been provided.
6. The title is relevant to the content of the document and does not exceed 15 words.
7. The abstract is prepared according to the guidelines set out in the Instructions to Authors and adds the keywords from DeCS or MeSH, separated by semicolons (;).
8. The text uses italics instead of underlining (except for URLs), and all illustrations, figures, and tables are placed in the appropriate places in the text, rather than at the end.
9. Figures and tables have their original sources declared if they are obtained from secondary sources. Permissions for their use are stated and provided.
10. Graphs and tables are presented in EDITABLE format (stylistic corrections are permitted), and their details and names appear at the bottom.
11. The text complies with the Vancouver style bibliographic standards stated in the instructions to authors.
12. The URLs for bibliographic references are fully functional and link directly to the exact location of the cited material.
13. The document declares potential CONFLICTS OF INTEREST (economic, labor, ethnic, etc.)