The concept
Editorial Board
Authors' Guidelines
Author's Contract

"GMS Krankenhaushygiene Interdisziplinär" is an interdisciplinary specialty journal within German Medical Science (gms), the portal and e-journal of the Association of the Scientific Medical Societies in Germany (AWMF).
Developed in cooperation with the German Institute of Medical Documentation and Information (DIMDI) and the German National Library of Medicine (ZB MED) it offers open access to high-ranking and quality reviewed articles from the whole area of hospital hygiene. The e-journal offers the possibility to publish, origianl articles and reviews online. The project is sponsored by the German Research Foundation (DFG).

Beyond the rapidity of publication and access, the journal will fully use the possibilities of electronic media. Possibilities will be created to upgrade the articles by linking them to high-resolution pictures, extensive charts, sounds, films, complete research databases or other data. The integration of national and international reference databases (e.g. MEDLINE) and the access to master files of publications allow for any extension of the information scope.
In addition, the internet media enables the development of document-oriented alternatives to "impact-factor". The archival storage on DIMDI's highly secure servers guarantees for permanent access and citeability.

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Authors' Guidelines - Updated: August 1st, 2006

1. General information 'Krankenhaushygiene Interdisziplinär' is an interdisciplinary e-journal with open access throughout the world, that publishes in English and German papers for the entire range of hospital hygiene related to actual special topics. The Journal guarantees a quality assurance process with extensive and stringent peer reviews. All submitted manuscripts are subject to an extensive and quick peer review process. The authors' guidelines principally follow the recommendations of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors: Uniform requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals.



2. Publication Requirements
   The submitted manuscripts or substantial parts of them should not have been previously published or submitted for publication somewhere else. The abbreviated version of the contents for presentation at a meeting is not regarded as a publication.
   
   2.1 Authorship and Copyright
   All authors insure that they have furnished a substantial contribution to the article and that they are in agreement with form and contents of the manuscript. The author conducting the negotiations confirms in the Author's Contract that he holds the rights on his works as well as on the text and illustrations attached therein. If material (e.g. illustrations or tables) is used from other sources, the author must submit a written statement from the holder of the copyrights indicating agreement with a publication in 'Krankenhaushygiene Interdisziplinär'. In cases of publication, the author grants Krankenhaushygiene Interdisziplinär the right to store in databases for an unlimited period of time, to distribute and to reproduce the article in electronic form, as well as to the individualized print for users of the print-on-demand service. All remaining exploitation rights of the author are not restricted, however, all further publications should display original publication note (originally published in: 'GMS Krankenhaushygiene Interdisziplinär' with complete citation.
   
   2.2 Conflict of Interests
   Financial or other support of institutes or companies, as well as promotion funds, is to be stated in the acknowledgments. All financial or other connections, which the author has to a company, whose products or competition products play an important role in represented facts of the matter, should be described and enclosed on a separate form.
   This notification is handled confidentially and only when the manuscript is accepted for publication does the editorial staff discuss with the author in which form this information will be relayed.
   
   2.3 Protection of Patients' Rights to Privacy
   When using records of patients it must be guaranteed that the person is not identifiable on the basis of the portrayal. Otherwise, the author must seek explicit consent from the person concerned (or their representative) that he agrees to the publication in the present form.
   The existence of such a consent is to be confirmed by the author in writing.
   
   2.4 Enlightenment and approval
   All manuscripts concerning clinical investigations with humans or human materials must include a statement that the project was approved by the local Ethical Committee and that all patients or test persons gave written consent before participation after adequate explanation.
   
   2.5 Ethical handling with animals
   All manuscripts must clearly explain test procedures performed with animals giving no cause for ethical complaints.



3. Manuscript Preparation
   
   3.1 In General
   The manuscripts are to be submitted in English or German according to the intended issue language. Abstract, title and keywords should be included in both languages.
   Non-German authors of accepted manuscripts may contact one of the editors for help with the German translation of their abstracts and titles. For issues in English language authors may also submit German manuscripts with the understanding that once accepted the manuscripts have to be translated by the authors themselves or at the authors' cost. The manuscripts may include tables, diagrams and pictures, as well as sound or video.
   
   3.1.1 Covering letter
   Every manuscript must be submitted with a cover letter, where all authors indicate possible overlaps with already published articles or elsewhere submitted manuscripts. The submitting author declares that all coauthors gave written consent to the accomplished manuscript.
   Finally any possible conflicts of interests must be obviously indicated.
   
   3.1.2 Title Page
   On the first page of the manuscript the English and German title of the article are stated, followed by the surnames and first names of all authors, their e-mail addresses and the facilities where they are active. Then give separately the name, mail and e-mail address of the author conducting the correspondence.
   
   3.1.3 Abstract and Key Words
   The summary is to be drawn up in such a way that it represents a condensed extract of the work. It should be subdivided with the headings in bold: aim, methods, results and conclusion.
   The author should indicate adequate keywords which, as far as possible, are taken from the Medical Subject Headings (MeSH, see MeSH-Database or MeSH-Browser). With original papers and case descriptions you should also indicate the trade names and names of the producer of the drugs applied and medical devices, as well as the chemical substances and their CAS number in order to make this information indexable in appropriate databases
   
   3.1.4 Literature References
   The literature cited in the text is listed at the end of the article according to the Vancouver Style of References also used in Medline (see National Library of Medicine).
   References should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are mentioned in the reference list. The reference list should be sorted in order of the references in the text or of the surnames of the first authors alphabetically.
   Identify references in text, tables, and legends by Arabic numerals in square brackets.
   Please do not use footnotes!
   
   Some Examples:
   
   
   • Standard journal article:
     Halpern SD, Ubel PA, Caplan AL. Solid-organ transplantation in HIV-infected patients. N Engl J Med. 2002;347(4):284-7.
   • Monograph:
     Murray PR, Rosenthal KS, Kobayashi GS, Pfaller MA. Medical microbiology. 4th ed. St. Louis: Mosby; 2002.
   • Chapter/Contribution in a monograph:
     Meltzer PS, Kallioniemi A, Trent JM. Chromosome alterations in human solid tumors.
     In: Vogelstein B, Kinzler KW, editors. The genetic basis of human cancer.
     New York: McGraw-Hill; 2002. p. 93-113.
   • CD-ROM:
     Anderson SC, Poulsen KB. Anderson's electronic atlas of hematology [CD-ROM].
     Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins; 2002.
   • Journal article on the Internet:
     Eysenbach G. SARS and population health technology.
     J Med Internet Res. 2003;5(2):e14. Verfügbar auf: http://www.jmir.org/2003/2/e14/
   • Homepage/Website:
     Cancer-Pain.org [Homepage on the Internet].
     New York: Association of Cancer Online Resources, Inc.; c2000-01
     [updated 2002 May 16; cited 2002 Jul 9]. Verfügbar auf: http://www.cancer-pain.org/
     
     
   Further detailed sample references under: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html
   
   3.2 Article Types
   Research articles deal with current problems, with adequate empirical or experimental methodology. It should be evident from the papers that they make a substantial contribution in clarifying the formulated problem. They are to be subdivided into: Abstract, introduction, methods, results, discussion, conclusions.
   Case reports represent a case relevant for the scientific interest. They are to be subdivided into: Abstract, introduction, case description, discussion, conclusions.
   Review articles are to show the state of research in detail, summarize and clarify open research questions. Review articles should include abstract and introduction, furthermore, they may be subdivided sectionwise according to the requirements of the topic.
   Rapid publications/short communications and letters to the editor contain comments or announcements and communications with news character and are principally welcome as a central element in the discussion of research results. They go through a peer review like the other articles.
   In comparison, rapid responses are commentaries that cannot be cited, are limited in length and linked directly to an article to make discussions possible. The editorial staff reserves the right at any time to select, as well as to abridge and revise them. This feature will be implemented shortly.
   Announcements about awards, scientific prizes, personalities, consensus papers and other official statements should be submitted by the respective expert association.
   
   3.3 Technical Requirements
   
   3.3.1 Typography and technical terms
   Do not use block style or hyphenation when drawing up your manuscripts. Line breaks are only to be inserted in paragraphs. Literature references are to be numbered consecutively in the text (3.1.4) and listed at the end of the document as text, under no circumstances by means of the automatic footnote function. All illustrations and tables are to be provided with legends and numbered consecutively.
   The basic units of the International System for Measures and Weights (SI) and the units derived from them are to be used for all units of measurement. For the indication of blood pressure values the unit "mmHg" is permissible, for the indication of temperatures the unit °C. When using other units in illustrations and tables the conversion factors are to be indicated in the legend.
   The nomenclature of the International Union for Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC) resp. the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) is to be used for the designation of chemical substances. The additional indication of the register number of the Chemical Abstracts Service (CAS) is recommended.
   Generally, the generic name is to be used when mentioning drugs. If certain commercial products were used in the research, then these trade names and the names of the producer should be quoted in the method part. In addition, this data will be indexable via the recording in special data fields (s. 3.1.3). The spelling in the "Red List" applies. Abbreviations without solutions should be only used, if they are generally common (DNA, WHO).
   All remaining abbreviations are to be identified when first used. If necessary, an abbreviation list should be added.
   
   3.3.2 Text Formats
   Manuscript can be submitted by e-mail to one of the editors of the mentioned editor list.
   The text formats MS-Word (*.doc) and Rich Text Format (*.rtf) are accepted.
   
   3.3.3 Graphic Formats
   The following graphic formats may be used: the formats TIFF and BMP (loss-free bitmap-formats); GIF and PNG (bitmap-formats compressed) for charts, JPG (compressable bitmap-format) for photos.
   Even if the graphics are integrated in the text, they should be provided additionally as separate files with clear file names.



4. Process of reviewing
   Krankenhaushygiene Interdisziplinär confirms the submission of every manuscript. Each manuscript is subjected to a peer review process to assess the originality and scientific quality of the presented data. The assessment will be carried out by two independent experts chosen by the professional association 'Deutsche Gesellschaft für Krankenhaushygiene DGKH' separately for every issue. Based on their statement the board finally decides the acceptance or rejection of the manuscript. This decision will be transmitted to the authors as soon as possible.

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⇒  Author's Contract (PDF-Document, ca. 60kB)