Skip to main page content

• HOME
• Current
• Archive
• Feedback
• Subscribe
• Help

INSTRUCTIONS FOR AUTHORS

Contents

• Introduction
• Online submission
• Fast-track assessment
• Title and authors
• Declaration of interest
• Structure of manuscripts
• References
• Tables
• Figures
• Statistics
• Randomised controlled trials
• Qualitative research
• General
• Proofs
• Copyright
• Letters to the Editor
• Extras
• Open access

The British Journal of Psychiatry is published monthly by The Royal College of Psychiatrists. The Journal publishes original work in all fields of psychiatry. Manuscripts for publication should be submitted online via http://submit-bjp.rcpsych.org.

All published articles are peer reviewed. Contributions are accepted for publication on the condition that their substance has not been published or submitted for publication elsewhere, and this includes web-based documents. Authors submitting papers to the Journal (serially or otherwise) with a common theme or using data derived from the same sample (or a subset thereof) must send details of all relevant previous publications and simultaneous submissions.

The Journal is not responsible for statements made by contributors. Material in the Journal does not necessarily reflect the views of the Editor or of The Royal College of Psychiatrists.

Manuscripts accepted for publication are copy-edited to improve readability and to ensure conformity with house style.

Manuscripts for publication must be submitted online at http://submit-bjp.rcpsych.org. A unique account will be created for each contributor using his or her email address as identification. (Note for contributors with more than one email account: please ensure you use the same email address whenever logging on to the manuscript submission website.) Contributors may track the progress of their submissions at any time via this website. For assistance with online submission, please email bjp@rcpsych.ac.uk or telephone +44 (0)20 7235 8857. A cover letter should be included with the submission explaining why you consider the submitted article suitable for publication in the Journal.

To submit a letter to the Editor, see below.

Authors have the option of submitting articles for fast-track assessment. Those wishing to take this route should state this in the first or second sentence of their cover letter, together with the reasons for rapid assessment. A decision whether to approve the fast-track route will be made within 10 days of submission; those papers that are not selected for this route will be assessed in the normal way unless the authors state specifically that they want fast-track assessment only. All papers approved for the fast-track route will be assessed within 4 weeks of submission. Review articles will not be considered for fast-track assessment.

The title should be brief and relevant. Subtitles should not be used unless they are essential. Titles should not announce the results of articles and, except in editorials, they should not be phrased as questions.

All authors must sign the copyright transfer and publication agreement, which can be downloaded from http://submit-bjp.rcpsych.org once a manuscript has been accepted. One of the authors should be designated to receive correspondence and proofs, and the appropriate address indicated. This author must take responsibility for keeping all other named authors informed of the paper's progress. The contribution of each author to the paper must be stated at the end of the article; this information may be published online. Authorship credit should be based only on substantial contribution to:

• conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of data
• drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content
• and final approval of the version to be published.

All these conditions must be met. Participation solely in the acquisition of funding or the collection of data does not justify authorship. In addition, the corresponding author must ensure that there is no one else who fulfils the criteria but has not been included as an author. Group authorship is permitted but individuals choosing this option will not be cited personally, as only those listed as authors on the title page of the manuscript and (on acceptance for publication) whose signed copyright agreement has been obtained, qualify for author status. It is the responsibility of the corresponding author to ensure that authorship is agreed among the study's workers, contributors of additional data and other interested parties, before submission of the manuscript.

The names of the authors should appear on the title page in the form that is wished for publication, and the names, degrees, affiliations and full addresses at the time the work described in the paper was carried out should be given at the end of the paper.

All submissions to the Journal (including editorials and letters to the Editor) require a declaration of interest. This should list fees and grants from, employment by, consultancy for, shared ownership in, or any close relationship with, an organisation whose interests, financial or otherwise, may be affected by the publication of the paper. This pertains to all the authors of the study.

A structured abstract not normally exceeding 250 words should be given at the beginning of the article, incorporating the following headings: Background; Aims; Method; Results; Conclusions; Declaration of interest. The abstract is a crucial part of the paper and authors are urged to devote some care to ensuring that all the important findings are within the word limit.

Introductions should normally be no more than one paragraph; longer ones may be allowed for new and unusual subjects. This should be followed by Method, Results and Discussion sections. The Discussion should always include limitations of the paper to ensure balance. Use of subheadings is encouraged, particularly in Discussion sections. A separate Conclusions section is not required.

The article should normally be between 3000 and 5000 words in length (excluding references, tables and figure legends) and normally would not include more than 25 essential references beyond those describing statistical procedues, psychometric instruments and diagnostic guidelines used in the study. All large tables (exceeding half a Journal page) will be published only in the online version of the Journal (see Online data supplements, below). Authors are encouraged to present key data within smaller tables for print publication. This applies also to review articles and short reports.

Review articles should be structured in the same way as regular papers, but the restriction on the number of references does not apply. The procedure for the publication of systematic reviews is the preferred format

Short reports require an unstructured summary of one paragraph, not exceeding 100 words. The report should not exceed 1200 words (excluding references, tables and figure legends) and contain no more than one figure or table and up to 10 essential references beyond those describing statistical procedures, psychometric instruments and diagnostic guidelines used in the study. Short reports will not exceed two printed pages of the Journal and authors may be required to edit their report at proof stage to conform to this requirement. This may be necessary even if the report does not exceed 1200 words if the figure or table is unduly large.

Editorials require an unstructured summary of one paragraph, not exceeding 50 words. Editorials should not exceed 1500 words and may contain no more than one figure or table and up to 10 essential references. Editorials may only exceed two printed pages in length at the Editor's discretion. A good-quality photograph of the lead author for publication alongside the editorial must be submitted with the manuscript, along with brief biographical details (up to 25 words) for all authors.

This is a section following the structure of Editorials but with up to 15 essential references, provided that the total length does not exceed two printed pages. These articles are mainly commissioned by the Editor and are concerned with well-known subjects in psychiatry which are going through a period of controversy or re-evaluation. Reappraisals are intended to give a long-term balanced perspective on the subject based on the latest evidence.

Two debaters have three rounds of debate (1-2-1-2-1-2), responding to each other after each round. Each author may use up to 2000 words and 15 references, divided as they wish between their three rounds. A short introduction will be provided by the Debates Editors post-acceptance.

Authors are responsible for checking all references for accuracy and relevance in advance of submission. Reference lists not in the correct style will be returned to the author for correction. From January 2008, all references should be numbered in the order in which they appear in the text and listed at the end of the article using the Vancouver style (see below), in which the names and initials of all authors are given after the appropriate reference number. If there are more than six authors, the first six should be named, followed by 'et al'.

The authors' names are followed by the full title of the article; the journal title abbreviated (in italics) according to the style of Index Medicus; the year of publication; the volume number (in bold type); and the first and last page numbers. References to book or book chapters should give the titles of the book (and the chapter if selected), names of any authors, name of publisher, names of any editors, and year. Examples are shown below.

Personal communications need written authorisation (email is acceptable); they should not be included in the reference list. Unpublished doctoral theses may be cited (please state department or faculty, university and degree). No other citation of unpublished work, including unpublished conference presentations, is permissible.

Tables should be numbered and have an appropriate heading. The tables should be mentioned in the text but must not duplicate information. The heading of the table, together with any footnotes or comments, should be self-explanatory. The desired position of the table in the manuscript should be indicated. Do not tabulate lists, which should be incorporated into the text, where, if necessary, they may be displayed.

Authors must obtain permission from the original publisher if they intend to use tables from other sources, and due acknowledgement should be made in a footnote to the table.

Figures should be clearly numbered and include an explanatory legend. Avoid cluttering figures with explanatory text, which is better incorporated succinctly in the legend. 3-D effects should generally be avoided. Lettering should be parallel to the axes. Units must be clearly indicated and should be presented in the form quantity (unit) (note: `litre' should be spelled out in full unless modified to ml, dl, etc.). All figures should be mentioned in the text and the desired position of the figure in the manuscript should be indicated.

Authors must obtain permission from the original publisher if they intend to use figures from other sources, and due acknowledgement should be made in the legend.

Colour figures may be reproduced if authors are able to cover the costs.

Methods of statistical analysis should be described in language that is comprehensible to the numerate psychiatrist as well as the medical statistician. Particular attention should be paid to clear description of study designs and objectives, and evidence that the statistical procedures used were both appropriate for the hypotheses tested and correctly interpreted. The statistical analyses should be planned before data are collected and full explanations given for any post hoc analyses carried out. The value of test statistics used (e.g. t, F-ratio) should be given as well as their significance levels so that their derivation can be understood. Standard deviations and errors should not be reported as ± but should be specified and referred to in parentheses.

Trends should not be reported unless they have been supported by appropriate statistical analyses for trends.

The use of percentages to report results from small samples is discouraged, other than where this facilitates comparisons. The number of decimal places to which numbers are given should reflect the accuracy of the determination, and estimates of error should be given for statistics.

A brief and useful introduction to the place of confidence intervals is given by Gardner & Altman (1990, British Journal of Psychiatry, 156, 472-474). Use of these is encouraged but not mandatory.

Authors are encouraged to include estimates of statistical power where appropriate. To report a difference as being statistically significant is generally insufficient, and comment should be made about the magnitude and direction of change.

The Journal recommends to authors the CONSORT guidelines (1996, Journal of the American Medical Association, 276, 637-639) and their basis (2001, Annals of Internal Medicine, 134, 663-694) in relation to the reporting of randomised controlled clinical trials; also recommended is their extension to cluster randomised controlled trials (2004, BMJ, 328, 702-708). In particular, a flow chart illustrating the progress of participants through the trial (CONSORT diagram) must be included.

The Journal welcomes submissions of reports of qualitative research relevant to the scope of the Journal. These manuscripts will be evaluated in terms of design, conduct and reporting of the study, which need to be of sufficient quality and merit to warrant inclusion in the Journal. The Editor recognises that the term ‘qualitative research’ encompasses diverse methods underpinned by various epistemological or theoretical frameworks. Accordingly, manuscripts will be evaluated on the basis of the appropriateness of the selected framework to the enquiry, the internal coherence of the report and its adherence to quality criteria consistent with the methodology and method as follows:

• The epistemological underpinnings and/or theoretical framework is made explicit and applied consistently

• The research goal is clearly articulated, justified with reference to literature, and placed in context
• The approach matches the purpose of research and is justified
• Methods of sampling, data collection, data management and analysis are explicit and consistent with methodology
• Analytical and interpretative processes are described fully

• Findings represent the depth and breadth of data
• Findings and interpretations are supported by the data
• Direct quotations, exemplars or other data presentations are used judiciously in a way that illustrates the findings
• Findings are presented in a way that is consistent with methodology, method and study aims
• Authors are appropriately cautious about knowledge claims
• Findings are explored theoretically and applications discussed

• The report provides an account of reflexive practice in keeping with the methodology

The review of the manuscript will determine whether the authors present their research in such a way that the reader can evaluate the relevance, credibility and applicability of the generated evidence.

For further guidance, authors may refer to the Royal College of Psychiatrists' house style guide.

If the study includes original data, at least one author must confirm that he or she had full access to all the data in the study, and takes responsibility for the integrity of the data and the accuracy of the data analysis.

The Journal recommends that all clinical trials are registered in a public trials registry. Further details of criteria for acceptable registries and of the information to be registered are available at http://www.icmje.org/index.html#clin_trials. For reports supported by industry funds, this is a requirement for the paper to be considered for publication in the Journal.

If an individual is described, his or her consent must be obtained and submitted with the manuscript. Our consent form can be downloaded here. The individual should read the report before submission. Where the individual is not able to give informed consent, it should be obtained from a legal representative or other authorised person. If it is not possible for informed consent to be obtained, the report can be published only if all details that would enable any reader (including the individual or anyone else) to identify the person are omitted. Merely altering some details, such as age and location, is not sufficient to ensure that a person's confidentiality is maintained. Contributors should be aware of the risk of complaint by individuals in respect of defamation and breach of confidentiality, and where concerned should seek advice. In general, case studies are published in the Journal only if the authors can present evidence that the case report is of fundamental significance and it is unlikely that the scientific value of the communication could be achieved using any other methodology.

Material related to a paper but unsuitable for publication in the printed journal (e.g. large tables) may be published as a data supplement to the online Journal at the Editor's discretion. For very large volumes of material, charges may apply.

All abbreviations must be spelt out on first usage and only widely recognised abbreviations will be permitted.

The generic names of drugs should be used.

Generally, SI units should be used; where they are not, the SI equivalent should be included in parentheses. Units should not use indices: i.e. report g/ml, not gml^-1.

The use of notes separate to the text should generally be avoided, whether they be footnotes or a separate section at the end of a paper. A footnote to the first page may, however, be included to give some general information concerning the paper.

The source of any compounds not yet available on general prescription should be indicated. The version number (or release date) and manufacturer of software used, and the platform on which it is operated (PC, Mac, UNIX etc.), should be stated. The manufacturer, manufacturer's location and product identification should be included when describing equipment central to a study (e.g. scanning equipment used in an imaging study).

A proof will be sent to the corresponding author of an article. Offprints, which are prepared at the same time as the Journal is printed, should be ordered when the proof is returned to the Editor. Offprints are despatched up to 6 weeks after publication.

On acceptance of the paper for publication, we will require all authors to assign copyright to the Royal College of Psychiatrists. You retain the right to use the article (provided you acknowledge the published original in standard bibliographic citation form) in the following ways, as long as you do not sell it (or give it away) in ways which would conflict directly with our business interests. You are free to use the article for teaching purposes within your own institution or, in whole or in part, as the basis of your own further publications or spoken presentations. In addition, you retain the right to provide a copy of the manuscript to a public archive (such as an institutional repository or PubMed Central) for public release no sooner than 12 months after publication in the British Journal of Psychiatry (or from the date of publication, if the open access option is chosen, see below). Only the final peer-reviewed manuscript as accepted for publication (not earlier versions, or the final copy-edited version) may be deposited in this way. Any such manuscripts must contain the following wording on the first page: "This is an author-produced electronic version of an article accepted for publication in the British Journal of Psychiatry. The definitive publisher-authenticated version is available online at http://bjp.rcpsych.org."

Letters may be submitted online either as responses to published articles (follow the link 'submit a response' when viewing an article online) or as general letters to the Editor (from the general eLetter submission page). A selection from these eLetters will subsequently be included in the printed Journal. Correspondence submitted for publication in the print edition without prior online publication as eLetters should be sent to bjpletters@rcpsych.ac.uk.

Extras are published at the end of articles where space allows. These comprise a wide range of material considered to be of interest to readers of the Journal. Submissions for publication as extras should not be submitted online, but sent by email directly to the Excutive Contents Editor, Professor Robert Howard (robert.howard@iop.kcl.ac.uk).

There is no submission or publication fee for papers published in the Journal in the usual way. All papers published in the Journal become freely available online 12 months after publication. In a new initiative to maximise access to original research, authors now have the option to make their papers freely available from the time of publication, on payment of an open access charge. This charge is currently £2500 (or US$4500) per article plus VAT where applicable. If you wish to take up this option, contact the BJP Editorial Assistant once your paper has been accepted for publication. For such papers the requirement for a 12-month delay before release of the manuscript in a public archive is waived, and the final published version may be deposited.

At any time up to 5 years after publication of research in the Journal, authors may be asked to provide the raw data.