Submissions

Submission Preparation Checklist

Manuscript Submission Requirements

All submissions to the Revista Médica del IMSS must comply with the following guidelines:

1. Before initiating the submission

• Authors must confirm they have thoroughly read the Editorial Policies and Article Submission sections available on the journal’s official website.

• The person submitting the manuscript must be the designated corresponding author and will be responsible for all communication with the editorial team.

2. Manuscript format

• The manuscript must be submitted as a Word file, in its final version, fully editable and with track changes disabled.

• Document formatting must follow these specifications:

  • Font: Arial, 12-point size.

  • Page size: Letter (8.5 x 11 inches).

  • Text justified, single-column layout, with no page breaks between sections.

  • Margins: 3 cm top and bottom; 2.5 cm left and right.

  • Double line spacing throughout the document, including tables and figures.

3. Title page

Submitted as a separate file and must include:

• Header with the first author’s name (surnames hyphenated, followed by initials), then et al. if applicable, and a short title in Spanish (maximum six words).

• Full title in Spanish (maximum 12 words) and its English translation (no abbreviations, formulas, or equations).

• Full names of all authors, listed in the same order as in section III of the Authorship Acknowledgment form.

• One institutional affiliation per author, without academic titles or positions, structured from general to specific: institution, unit, department or service, city, and country. If applicable, include the campus and school or faculty.

• Name of the corresponding author (must match section I of the Authorship Acknowledgment), email address, and telephone number.

4. Abstract

• Must be written in Spanish and English.

• Depending on the section of the article, a structured or unstructured abstract may be required (see Editorial Policies for guidance).

• Maximum length: 1,683 characters in Spanish and 1,382 characters in English (including spaces).

5. Keywords

• Between three and five keywords, selected from MeSH (Medical Subject Headings) and DeCS (Health Sciences Descriptors).

• Do not use synonyms or free-text terms.

6. Illustrations

A maximum of six illustrations may be included (tables, graphs, figures, diagrams, algorithms, or photographs):

• Each illustration must have a title, explanatory notes, and a figure legend.

• They must be cited in the text and placed immediately after the first paragraph in which they are mentioned.

• Tables are created directly in the Word document, labeled as Tables and numbered using Roman numerals.

• Other illustrations are labeled as Figures and numbered using Arabic numerals.

• Graphs must be fully editable (modifiable colors, fonts, line weights, etc.) and submitted in EPS format or created in Excel.

• In addition to being embedded in the manuscript, each image that forms part of a figure or diagram must also be uploaded as a separate file, without annotations, arrows, or labels.

• Minimum resolution: 600 pixels, with clear quality after resizing.

• Each illustration must occupy no more than half a page.

• If a photograph of a patient’s face is included, a signed informed consent form from the patient or legal guardian must be submitted, along with the unmarked original image (the journal will apply the anonymization).

7. References

• All references must be cited in the text using Arabic numerals in superscript, without parentheses, and in consecutive order.

• The reference list must be formatted in Vancouver style at the end of the document.

• The number of references should align with the type of article, as indicated in the Editorial Policies.

• References must be publicly accessible.

• Self-citations must not exceed 10% of the total references.

• For journal articles, both volume and issue numbers must be included.

• Links should preferably lead to the official journal website, not to indexing databases.

• Include the DOI (Digital Object Identifier) when available.

• For references with URLs, include the access date. For websites, also provide the last update date.

8. Required documents

Each submission must include the following three documents, in PDF format:

1. Conflict of Interest Statement (one per author).

2. Authorship Acknowledgment (a single PDF file containing the three completed pages, signed by all authors).

3. Copyright Transfer Agreement (signed by all authors).

Important notes:

• These forms must be downloaded directly from the journal’s website and must not be modified in any way.

• All documents must be recently dated and hand-signed by the authors (digital signatures or image insertions are not accepted).

• If the manuscript is a clinical case report, a signed informed consent form from the patient or legal guardian must also be included.

The characteristics of the publication types accepted by the journal are described below: