Conflicts of interest statement:  All authors must fill out this form (as set by ICJME www.icmje.org) if their paper is accepted, and return the completed form by email to the NZMJ office..

Upcoming issue dates and themes (pdf)

Editor Information

(Guidelines for authors are in accordance with the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts submitted to Biomedical Journals. Full details are available at www.icmje.org)

Authors should be aware of the broad general readership of the Journal. Highly technical articles such as those involving physiological experiments on laboratory animals and at the cellular level will not be accepted. Please send such articles to a specialised physiology journal instead. Brevity and clear expression are essential.

3000 words and 30 references is the maximum for most original manuscripts. Where there is good reason for a longer paper we will listen to argument. All manuscripts submitted to the Journal are assumed to be sent to it exclusively unless otherwise stated.

All submissions should be made electronically. An accompanying e-mail should state;

1. "I (We) accept full responsibility for the conduct of the study, had access to the data, and controlled the decision to publish".
2. Authors must state where potential conflicts of interest exist.
3. All sources of funding must be stated explicitly and this information will be published with the paper.

Additional advice for:

Editorials

Case reports

Letters

Obituaries

Viewpoint

Medical Image

Please use Microsoft Word for papers. If you are using MS Word 2007 software then save the file as Word 97-2003 (with .doc suffix, not .docx)

The paper: Papers must be written in English. Please organise as follows.

Title: The title should be without abbreviations. Author names (first name and surname) with no degrees. Corresponding author details with postal and email addresses plus phone and fax numbers.

Abstract: This should not exceed 200 words and should describe the core of the papers message, including essential numerical data. Use four headings: Aims, Methods, Results, Conclusions.

Body of the paper: There should be a brief introduction (no heading) followed by sections for Methods, Results, Discussion.

References: In the text, use superscript numbers for each reference (with no linking to the reference list or footnotes whatsoever - these features cause problems when webpages are created). For example:
...International research has demonstrated lower referral to cardiac rehabilitation programmes for women,^14,22-24 with women being 20% less likely to be referred.²² This audit demonstrated...

Titles of journals are abbreviated according to the style used by Index Medicus for articles in journals. Include all authors where there are four or less; for five or more authors include only the first three authors followed by "et al". Personal communications and unpublished data should also be cited as such in the text (with the year of the communication).
For example:
1. Rothwell PM, Eliasziw M, Gutnikov SA, et al. Endarterectomy for symptomatic carotid stenosis in relation to clinical subgroups and timing of surgery. Lancet. 2004;363:915-24.
2. Hsia DC, Krushat WM, Moscoe LM. Epidemiology of carotid endarterectomies among Medicare beneficiaries. J Vasc Surg. 1992;16:201-8.
3. Marks P. Hypertension. In: Baker J, editor. Cardiovascular disease. 3rd ed. Oxford: Oxford University Press; 1998, p567-95.

Important note: Please check the accuracy and completeness of references in http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query/static/citmatch.html.  (Then, use Edit/Paste Special/Unformatted text to transfer references to your MS Word document.).

Tables and figures: These should be inserted into the text at the appropriate positions (where they are first mentioned). Insert the total number of tables and figures (including if zero) on the title page of your manuscript.  Do not use the tab key to separate columns - data must be contained within visible borders.

Images: Any jpegs for insertion should be less than 300kb each.

Referees: In your cover email/letter you may write the names, workplaces, and email addresses (if known) of three suitable referees for your paper (the editor may choose some or all of these names when designating referees). You may also write the names of any referees you would like us to exclude for whatever reason.

When finished, save and email the document to: nzmj@cdhb.govt.nz

Upon receiving your manuscript, we will reply with an acknowledgement email containing a manuscript number (for all future correspondence). You will usually receive this reply within the next 8 days (up to 15 days depending on workload and staffing resources). If you have not received a reply within 15 days, then email again or telephone leaving a message. You can presume letters to the editor will be published, we will only reply if additional information is required or if publication of the letter is declined.

The Journal does not hold itself responsible for statements made by any of its contributors. Statements or opinions expressed in the Journal reflect the views of the author(s) and do not reflect official policy of the New Zealand Medical Association unless stated as such.