Articles Types

Authors must submit manuscripts that have not been published, are not in press, and have not been submitted to other scientific journals, books, or venues that could be considered formal publications (including preprints or future submissions). Correspondence for each article must be handled solely by the corresponding authors, who should provide a verified institutional email address. Articles failing to meet this requirement will not be considered for evaluation or publication.

 

• ORIGINAL ARTICLES

Original research articles present primary, unpublished studies. They may also include studies that confirm or disconfirm previous results, contributing to hypothesis elimination, reformulation, or highlighting the non-reproducibility of earlier findings. These articles should showcase novel work that significantly impacts the journal’s aims and scope, providing meaningful advancements in the reader’s knowledge or understanding. Supporting data or additional experimental details can be submitted as a Supplementary Appendix.

Format guide:

  • Word limit: 3500 words (excluding the abstract and references)
  • References: 50-60 references (the journal reserves the right to reconsider this limit by evaluating each article individually)
  • Abstract: 300 words or less, and it should be structured (OBJECTIVE; PATIENTS AND METHODS or MATERIALS AND METHODS or SUBJECTS AND METHODS; RESULTS; DISCUSSION; CONCLUSIONS)
  • Tables/Figures: there is no limit (do not repeat the data extensively in tables or figures)

 

• BRIEF COMMENTARIES

Brief Commentaries are short manuscripts that have important and generally preliminary data on a specific issue.

Format guide:

  • Word limit: 1700 words (excluding the abstract and references)
  • References: 10-20
  • Abstract: up to 75 words, unstructured
  • Tables/Figures: a maximum of 1-2 figures or tables

 

• NARRATIVE REVIEWS

Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine publishes narrative reviews on current topics and recent advances in the scientific literature.

Reviews highlight recent advances in research, current challenges, and unmet needs. Authors are also encouraged to provide their perspectives on current progress and future directions.

Format guide:

  • Word limit: 4000 words (excluding the abstract and references)
  • References: 90-100 (the journal reserves the right to reconsider this limit by evaluating each article individually)
  • Abstract: 300 words or less, unstructured
  • Tables/Figures: there is no limit (do not repeat the data extensively in tables or figures)

 

• SYSTEMATIC REVIEWS AND META-ANALYSES

Systematic Review articles provide a synthesis of existing research, employing clearly defined methods to identify, categorize, analyze, and report aggregated evidence on a specific topic. This category includes meta-syntheses, meta-analyses, mapping reviews, scoping reviews, systematic reviews, and systematic reviews with a meta-analysis.

According to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), to conduct a systematic review or meta-analysis, the Authors have to follow the guidelines of the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA: http://www.prisma-statement.org/).

Authors should follow the Cochrane Handbook for Systematic Reviews of Interventions as methodology guidance for conducting and reporting.

Format guide:

  • Word limit: 4000 words (excluding the abstract and references)
  • References: 90-100 (the journal reserves the right to reconsider this limit by evaluating each article individually)
  • Abstract: 300 words or less and it should be structured (OBJECTIVE; MATERIALS AND METHODS; RESULTS; CONCLUSIONS)
  • Tables/Figures: there is no limit (do not repeat the data extensively in tables or figures)

Please, note that a systematic review analyzes a defined research question by collecting and summarizing all empirical evidence that fits pre-specified eligibility criteria. On the other hand, a meta-analysis reports the use of statistical methods to summarize the results of these studies.

To perform a high-quality analysis, the Authors are requested to follow some specific guidelines:

  • Authors have to conduct an initial search to assess the available literature and verify the importance of the review.
  • Authors have to clearly define the objectives and the research question (check the PICO format as a guide).
  • Authors have to establish pre-defined eligibility criteria for studies (e.g., inclusion and exclusion criteria, etc.).
  • Authors have to clearly describe the methods used for locating, selecting, extracting, and synthesizing data.
  • The methodology should be accurate and reproducible and must indicate which databases were searched.
  • Authors have to conduct a systematic search that aims to identify all relevant studies on the topic analyzed. The study selection process, including how disagreements about study inclusion was handled, should be accurately described.
  • Authors have to assess the validity of the findings of the included studies (e.g., risk of bias).
  • The extracted data should be synthesized using qualitative approaches (narrative synthesis) or quantitative techniques (meta-analysis).
  • Authors have to comprehensively summarize the results and answer the research question.

Authors are strongly encouraged to register the systematic reviews in a relevant repository (i.e., PROSPERO or INPLASY) to reduce bias in the conduct of research and to increase transparency. The registration number must be inserted in the text when submitting the manuscript.

Data Sharing

To enhance transparency and enable the reuse of search strategies, authors are strongly encouraged to share their search methods, template data collection forms, extracted data from included studies, risk of bias assessments for those studies, and evaluations of the certainty of the evidence in supplementary materials or in the Data Availability section. Besides providing search strategies, researchers are also encouraged to submit them to searchRxiv. This archive supports the consistent reporting, storage, and sharing of searches while also enabling the review and reuse of existing searches.

 

• CASE REPORT / CASE SERIES (WITH ACCOMPANYING LITERATURE REVIEW)

Case Report and Case Series present a notable medical case or series of related cases of particular interest to the field of infectious diseases and tropical medicine. Case Reports must be accompanied by a review of the literature on the specific topic covered in the manuscript.

Format guide:

  • Word limit: 1500 words (excluding the abstract and references)
  • Reference limit: 20
  • Abstract limit: 200 words, and it should be structured (BACKGROUND or INTRODUCTION or OBJECTIVE; CASE REPORT or CASE PRESENTATION; CONCLUSIONS)
  • Tables/Figures limit: 4

Case Reports must include a final section for informed consent. Permission or written consent should be obtained to draft the manuscript and publish the patient data. If the patient is a minor, consent should be obtained from the patient’s parents.

 

• EDITORIALS

Editorials are short articles that provide insight into issues of topical importance to the journal’s target audience or researchers. The articles should provide an expert perspective on a topic of recent interest. This contribution is usually solicited by the Editors. If unsolicited, the Authors are advised to contact our Editorial Team (submission.idtm@verduci.it) with an outline of the proposed review and CV of the Authors.

Format guide:

  • Word limit: 1400 words
  • References: 15 or less
  • Tables/Figures:  1 figure or table

 

• LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Letters to the Editor consist of comments on an article published in Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine. The inclusion of Letters to the Editor in the journal is at the discretion of the Editor-in-Chief, and they may undergo external peer review. All Letters to the Editor will be subsequently sent to the author of the original article, who will have 60 days to provide a Reply to be published alongside the Letter.

Letters are restricted to the discussion of papers already published in the journal, with a maximum of 1,000 words, one table or figure, and up to 20 references.

 

• CASE/PHOTO QUIZ

Case/Photo Quiz is based on a question-and-answer format.

It usually illustrates an unusual disease or an atypical presentation of an infectious disease to challenge the reader on its differential diagnosis.

The history of the case needs to be reported in the question portion of the article, but it should not disclose the diagnosis.

Format guide:

  • The question should be written in a single paragraph
  • Figures: 3 or less
  • The answer should give the diagnosis and outline or include the key teaching points

 

• CLINICAL TRIALS

All clinical trials submitted to Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine must be registered with the WHO International Clinical Trials Registry Platform (ICTRP) or ClinicalTrials.gov. According to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE), a clinical trial is defined as “any research project that prospectively assigns human subjects to intervention or comparison groups to study the cause-and-effect relationship between a medical intervention and a health outcome.” Studies designed for other purposes, such as to study pharmacokinetics or major toxicity (e.g., phase 1 trials), are exempt.

For definitions and further information, please refer to the ICMJE Recommendations (“The Uniform Requirements”) in the ICMJE’s Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals. Note that, unlike the ICMJE, Infectious Diseases and Tropical Medicine does not require trials to be registered before enrollment begins, though we strongly encourage this practice. When submitting your manuscript, please include the unique trial number and the name of the registry (e.g., ClinicalTrials.gov or ISRCTN) at the end of the abstract and in your cover letter.

 

Reporting Standards

Other guidelines have been developed and should be followed for different study designs:

  • CONSORT for randomized trials
  • STROBE for observational studies
  • STROBE-MR for Mendelian randomization studies
  • STARD for studies of diagnostic accuracy
  • CARE for case reports
  • ARRIVE for animal studies
  • PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analysis

In particular, good sources for reporting guidelines are the EQUATOR Network and the NLM’s Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives.