ISSN 2413-709X printed version
ISSN 2413-4341 online version

INSTRUCTIONS TO AUTHORS

• Scope and policy
• Form and preparation of manuscripts
• Sending of manuscripts

The Paraguayan Journal of Rheumatology, is the official publication of the Paraguayan Society of Rheumatology. It’s objective is to publish original research and knoledge regarding rheumatology and related areas. Particularly aimed at rheumatologists and specialists related to the specialty.

The Journal is a peer reviewed publication with abbreviated title Rev. parag. reumatol., printed ISSN 2413-709X, online ISSN 2413-4341. It is published every six months (June, December).  Spanish is the official publication language.

The journal publishes original articles, review articles, case reports, letters to the editor and short communications. The journal accepts articles published on preprint servers.

Manuscripts should follow the publication guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors.
The journal follows standards, guidelines and best practices established by the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE; www.publicationethics.org) and the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICJME).

Papers submitted for publication must be unpublished and original. Papers published or submitted at the same time in another journal will not be accepted.

The RPR (Revista Paraguaya de Reumatología) implements a Similarity Control Policy using anti-plagiarism software.

Papers are the responsibility of the authors and do not reflect the opinion of the Paraguayan Journal of Rheumatology.

GUIDELINES FOR AUTHORS

A) GENERAL CRITERIA

• Manuscripts should be prepared in accordance with the publication guidelines of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).
• The text should be processed in Microsoft Word with Times New Roman 12 cpi font, double-spaced.
•  Articles may be in spanish.
• Tables must be processed in Microsoft Word, in independent files. They should include: a) numbering of the table in Arabic numerals and consecutive numbers; b) corresponding statement (title) at the top, and c) table footnote, if appropriate for clarification of abbreviations and acronyms.
• The graphs should be submitted in Excel file. They should include: a) numbering of the graph with Arabic numerals and consecutive numbers; b) corresponding statement (title) at the bottom, and c) footer of the graph, if applicable for clarification of data.
• Photographs in high quality JPEG format will be accepted. Black and white photographs should have a minimum resolution of 300 dots per inch with a maximum of 2 MB.
• Color illustrations will be accepted. Color images shoulf have a minimum resolution of 600 dots per inch with a maximum of 2 MB.
• Authorship

a) Personal information for each of the authors

• Full name(s) and surname(s),
• Institutional affiliation: full name of the institution and department to which it belongs (from highest to lowest hierarchy), city and country. E.g. Universidad Nacional de Asunción, Facultad de Ciencias Médicas, Hospital de Clínicas. San Lorenzo, Paraguay.
• E-mail address of each author,
• Indicate correspondance author,
• Orcid ID,
• Brief curriculum vitae (up to 50 words)

b) Authors contribution: Each author’s contibution should be stated, signed and sent with the manuscript.

E.g. AA (author´s initials) contributed the methodological design.
BB (authors initials) performed data collection and analysis.
CC (authors initials) wrote the manuscript.

• Source of Financing: If applicable, state data such as project number and name, year and source of financing.
• Conflicts of interest: Authors should indicate any conflicts of interest they may have.
• Acknowledgements: If any.
• .Date of submission: Include the date of submission of the manuscript.
• Ethical issues must be detailed. Reviewing the Ethical Guidelines of the Council for International Organizations of Medical Sciences is reccomended.
• RPR implements a Similarity Control Policy using anti-plagiarism software.
• Citations and bibliographic references should followe the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) reccomendations.

Bibliographic citations should be mentioned with Arabic numerals in parentheses and in superscript, in order of appearance in the article, separated by commas or hyphen in case of covering very long consecutive references.

a) Indirect quotations or paraphrasing: the number indicating the source appears after the idea quoted.

Examples:
El síndrome de Sjögren es una patología autoinmune que compromete glándulas exocrinas, principalmente lagrimales y salivales. Puede presentarse de forma aislada (primaria) o bien asociada a otras enfermedades autoinmunitarias^(1,5).
Su incidencia oscila entre 3 y 11 casos por 100.000 individuos, mientras que su prevalencia se encuentra entre el 0,01% y el 0,72%. Con un mayor predominio en el sexo masculino, en una relación 2 a 1, y con frecuencia oscilando entre los 30 y los 50 años^(5-9).

b) Direct quotations: if a direct quotation is inserted, the exact paragraph should be placed between quotation marks and after these the number corresponding to the source cited. The direct quotation should not exceed 5 lines.

Examples:
La ecografía está "emergiendo como la técnica de preferencia para la detección de entesitis"⁽⁶⁾.
La reumatología es la "especialidad médica que se encarga de prevenir, diagnosticar y tratar las enfermedades musculoesqueléticas y autoinmunes sistémicas"⁽⁷⁾.

c) You can find exmples of bibliographic references from different sources at https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK7256/
- Books:
Jenkins PF. Understanding chest radiography: a practical guide. New York: Oxford University Press; 2005. 194 p.
- Journal articles:
Petitti DB, Crooks VC, Buckwalter JG, Chiu V. Blood pressure levels before dementia. Arch Neurol. 2005 Jan;62(1):112-6.
Kaul S, Diamond GA. Good enough: a primer on the analysis and interpretation of noninferiority trials. Ann Intern Med [Internet]. 2006 Jul 4 [cited 2007 Jan 4];145(1):62-9. Available at: http://www.annals.org/cgi/reprint/145/1/62.pdf
- Theses
Daugherty RH. Social work education and public assistance workers in Kentucky 1936-2001 [Masters thesis]. Louisville (KY): University of Louisville; 2004. 203 p.
- Web page:
Clutterbuck J, compiler. The Aspergillus nidulans linkage map [Internet]. Glasgow, Scotland: University of Glasgow, Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, Division of Molecular Genetics; [updated November 2006; cited 2007 Feb 21]. Available from: http://www.pharmedout.org/

B) JOURNAL SECTIONS AND MANUSCRIPT STRUCTURE
The Paraguayan Journal of Rheumatolgoy (RPR-Revista Paraguaya de Reumatología) publishes original articles, clinical cases, review articles, letters to the editor and short communications. The journal accepts articles published on preprint servers.

• TITLE: maximum up to 15 words, in Spanish and English,
• ABSTRACT: maximum 200 words, in Spanish and English,
• KEY WORDS: in Spanish and English,
• INTRODUCTION, MATERIALS AND METHODS, RESULTS, DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION and REFERENCES.

For original articles and short communications, the maximum recommended length is 10 and 5 pages, respectively.

• TITLE: maximum up to 15 words, in Spanish and English,
• ABSTRACT: maximum 200 words, in Spanish and English,
• KEY WORDS: in Spanish and English,
• INTRODUCTION, CASE, DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS,

The text’s maximum length will be 2 pages, and up to two figures and one table will be accepted.

• TITLE: maximum up to 15 words, in Spanish and English,
• ABSTRACT: maximum 200 words, in Spanish and English.
• KEY WORDS: in Spanish and English.
• INTRODUCTION, MATERIALS AND METHODS if applicable (e.g. systematic reviews), CONCLUSION, ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS and REFERENCES (maximum 150 words).

C) SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPTS
Articles to be evaluated should be submitted through the journals platform. Authors must register as users of the journals platform, indicate their institutional affiliation and e-mail address.
The manuscript sent through the journal’s online platform must be anonymous.
The author(s) must declare in a letter to the editor and in the platform, that the manuscript was only submitted to the journal and indicate the preprint server where it was deposited, if applicable. In addition, the letter should contain the data required and indicated in section A of this document, points 7a and 7b.
Once the manuscript is received, the journal will send a receipt confirmation to the corresponding author.

D) EVALUATION PROCESS
Papers submitted to the Paraguayan Journal of Rheumatology ( RPR ) are evaluated in two ways:

Preliminary Review by the Editorial Committee: to determine the importance, relevance and depth of the work, if the manuscript corresponds to the editorial line, if it adheres to the standards of the journal and meets the general criteria for publication.
At this stage, a similarity control will be carried out through an anti-plagiarism software. The journal will accept up to 20% similarity.
To proceed to the Peer Review stage, the manuscript must satisfy the Preliminary Review. The result will be communicated to the corresponding author.

Peer Review: at this stage the manuscript will be evaluated by two experts in the field using the double-blind method and following the guidelines indicated by the journal. In case their decisions are contrary, the manuscript will be submitted to a second round of review with other peer reviewers.
The final decision may be:

1. approved
2. approved with modifications
3. not approved (with suggestions and restarting the process).

All articles for the Paraguayan Journal of Rheumatology should be addressed to the Paraguayan Society of Rheumatology at the following address: http://www.revista.spr.org.py/index.php/spr/about/submissions