1. Overview
Polish Annals of Medicine considers for publication only manuscripts that are original in the meaning that the text or any part of its essential elements, figures or tables have not been published previously in any form and are not under consideration by any other publication in any form (except form reports delivered in connection with scientific meetings).
The editors of Polish Annals of Medicine discourage the submission of more than one article dealing with related aspects of the same study and require authors to submit any closely related papers together with the manuscript.

The corresponding author of the manuscript is required to provide a signed statement about the originality of the paper together with another required statement, which is explained below.
Publishing Schedule
The journal is published 2 times per year: in March and August.

2. Types of articles published

• original papers (not more than 10 pages, including figures and tables)
• review articles (not more than 8 pages, including figures and tables)
• case reports (not more than 8 pages, including figures and tables)
• polemics, comments (not more than 2 pages, including figures and tables) preliminary and special communications (not more than 4 pages, including figures and tables)
• editorials for comments on recent articles (not more than 1 page, including figures and tables)

3. Fees
There is no publication fee. The journal does not have any publication charges for open access. The Warmia and Mazury Medical Chamber, the journal owner, will pay to make the article open access.

4. Ethics
Informed consent and patient details
Studies on patients or volunteers require ethics committee approval and informed consent, which should be documented in the paper. Appropriate consents, permissions and releases must be obtained where an author wishes to include case details or other personal information or images of patients and any other individuals. Written consents must be retained by the author and copies of the consents or evidence that such consents have been obtained must be provided to the Owner on request. Unless you have written permission from the patient (or, where applicable, the next of kin), the personal details of any patient included in any part of the article and in any supplementary materials (including all illustrations and videos) must be removed before submission.
Please also refer to COPE guidelines.
https://publicationethics.org/
Human and animal rights
If the work involves the use of human subjects, the author should ensure that the work described has been carried out in accordance with The Code of Ethics of the World Medical Association (Declaration of Helsinki) for experiments involving humans; Uniform Requirements for manuscripts submitted to biomedical journals. Authors should include a statement in the manuscript that informed consent was obtained for experimentation with human subjects. The privacy rights of human subjects must always be observed.
All animal experiments should comply with the ARRIVE guidelines and should be carried out in accordance with the U.K. Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act, 1986 and associated guidelines, EU Directive 2010/63/EU for animal experiments, or the National Institutes of Health guide for the care and use of Laboratory animals (NIH Publications No. 8023, revised 1978) and the authors should clearly indicate in the manuscript that such guidelines have been followed.
Journal acts according to the COPE Best Practice Guidelines.
https://publicationethics.org/

Declaration of interest
All authors must disclose any financial and personal relationships with other people or organizations that could inappropriately influence (bias) their work. Examples of potential conflicts of interest include employment, consultancies, stock ownership, honoraria, paid expert testimony, patent applications/registrations, and grants or other funding. Authors must disclose any interests as a summary declaration of interest statement in the Author’s Statement document. If there are no interests to declare then please state the following: 'Declarations of interest: none'. This summary statement will be published if the article is accepted. 2. Detailed disclosures are part of a separate Declaration of Interest form, which forms part of the journal's official records. It is important for potential interests to be declared in both documents and that the information matches.
The journal follows the COPE guidelines.
The journal acts according to the COPE Best Practice Guidelines.
https://publicationethics.org/

Submission verification and declaration
The submission must be original and unpublished except where otherwise stated in the Instructions, not under consideration for publication in any source in any language and form, and has been approved by all authors. To verify originality, the manuscript may be checked using plagiarism detection services.

5. Clinical trials
Polish Annals of Medicine supports the position of the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors and the journal “will not consider results posted in the same primary clinical trials register in which the initial registration resides as previous publication if the results are presented in the form of a brief, structured (<500 words) abstract or table.”
Authors are required to follow Update on Trials Registration Clinical Trial Registration available at http://www.icmje.org/news-and-editorials/clincial_trial_reg_jun2007.html

Randomized controlled trials should be presented according to the CONSORT guidelines. The details and checklist to be included in the paper are available at http://www.consort-statement.org/
In case of the registration of clinical trials, authors are required to follow the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors instruction available at http://www.icmje.org/
The clinical trial registration number should be included in the manuscript.
As per ICMJE, a clinical trial is any research project that prospectively assigns people or a group of people to an intervention, with or without concurrent comparison or control groups, to study the relationship between a health-related intervention and a health outcome. Health-related interventions are those used to modify a biomedical or health-related outcome; examples include drugs, surgical procedures, devices, behavioral treatments, educational programs, dietary interventions, quality improvement interventions, and process-of-care changes. Health outcomes are any biomedical or health-related measures obtained in patients or participants, including pharmacokinetic measures and adverse events. The ICMJE does not define the timing of first participant enrollment, but best practice dictates registration by the time of first participant consent.

6. Authors’ Contribution
The corresponding author submitting the manuscript is required to provide detailed information on the contribution of all authors, and declare the individual contribution to the work - confirming that all authors have materially participated in the research or preparation of the work (detailed description). The corresponding author also confirms that all authors have approved the final version of the paper by signing the Author’s Statement document available for download during the submission process.
Editors trust that all statements given by the corresponding author are true and valid.

7. Authorship
All authors should have made substantial contributions to the manuscript. The corresponding author is required to provide detailed information for each author and state their contribution: Study Design, Data Collection, Statistical Analysis, Data Interpretation, Manuscript Preparation, Literature Search, and Funds Collection

Changes to authorship
No changes in authorship can be made after publication of the final version of the article. Authors are requested to carefully check the personal details. Only in exceptional cases will such changes be considered, and only if the corresponding author has provided detailed information for the reason of the change (addition, removal, or rearrangement). Editors will consider such requests only if the author provides: the reason, and written confirmation from all authors including confirmation from the author being added or removed.
Only in exceptional circumstances will the Editor consider the addition, deletion or rearrangement of authors after the manuscript has been accepted. While the Editor considers the request, publication of the manuscript will be suspended or a corrigendum will be published in case of articles already included in an issue.

8. Ghost and guest authorship
Journal Editors follows ICMJE guidelines regarding unethical author behavior.
Ghost authors: This phrase is used in two ways. It usually refers to professional writers (often paid by commercial sponsors) whose role is not acknowledged. Although such writers rarely meet ICMJE criteria, since they are not involved in the design of studies or the collection or interpretation of data, it is important to acknowledge their contribution, since their involvement may represent a potential conflict of interest. The term can also be used to describe people who made a significant contribution to a research project (and fulfilled the ICMJE criteria) but are not listed as authors. The ICMJE guidelines clearly condemn this practice and state that ‘All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship, and all those who qualify should be listed.’ Guest authors make no discernible contributions, but are listed to help increase the chances of publication/ confer extra credibility on the article. A gift author is one who may have a slight relationship with the study or the article, but who would not be considered an author according to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) guidelines. Gift authors: People who are listed as authors but who did not make a significant contribution to the research and therefore do not fulfill the ICMJE criteria. These are often senior figures (e.g. heads of department) whose names are added to curry favor (or because it is expected). Another type of gift author is a colleague whose name is added on the understanding that they will do the same for you, regardless of your contribution to his/her research, but simply to swell the publication lists.
All authors are also encouraged to read the COPE report, which describes possible authorship violations https://publicationethics.org/files/2003pdf12_0.pdf.

9. Open Access
Corresponding authors of accepted articles will be asked to fill in the License Agreement.
This is an open access journal: all articles will be immediately and permanently free for everyone to read and download.
Access Rights
All articles published open access will be immediately and permanently free for everyone to read, download copy and distribute.
User Rights
Permitted third party reuse is defined by the following user license:
Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND)
For non-commercial purposes, lets others distribute and copy the article, and to include in a collective work (such as an anthology), as long as they credit the author(s) and provided they do not alter or modify the article.
You are free to:
Share — copy and redistribute the material in any medium or format
The licensor cannot revoke these freedoms as long as you follow the license terms.
Under the following terms:
Attribution — You must give appropriate credit, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made. You may do so in any reasonable manner, but not in any way that suggests the licensor endorses you or your use.
NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.
NoDerivatives — If you remix, transform, or build upon the material, you may not distribute the modified material.
No additional restrictions — You may not apply legal terms or technological measures that legally restrict others from doing anything the license permits.
Notices:
You do not need to comply with the license for elements of the material in the public domain or where your use is permitted by an applicable exception or limitation.
No warranties are given. The license may not give you all of the permissions necessary for your intended use. For example, other rights such as publicity, privacy, or moral rights may limit how you use the material.
https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Note: If you need to comply with your funding body policy, you can apply for the CC BY license after your manuscript is accepted for publication.

Open Access Publication Fee
The journal does not have any publication charges for open access.
Author Rights
For open access publishing, this journal uses a copyright transfer agreement. Authors will transfer the copyright to Warmia and Mazury Medical Chamber but will have the right to share their article in the same way permitted to third parties under the relevant user license, as well as certain scholarly usage rights.

10. Protection of personal data

The journal follows EU regulations regarding data protection http://ec.europa.eu/justice/data-protection/. Authors should comply with this policy.

11. Funding
The funding information needs to be provided together with the manuscript. The author must identify who provided financial support for conducting the research and/or preparing the article, and to briefly describe the role of the sponsor(s).

12. Peer review process
Manuscripts are evaluated on the basis that they present new insights to the investigated topic and are likely to contribute to the progress of research or a change in clinical practice. Received manuscripts are first examined by the Polish Annals of Medicine Editors. Hence, priority in publishing is always given to works that present novel, practical as well as theoretical input into medical (or closely-related) science.

The journal operates based on a double blind review process. The Editor-in-Chief is responsible for the final decision regarding acceptance or rejection of all manuscripts.
The journal follows a double blind peer review procedure according to the “COPE Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers”. The initial review is done by the Editor-in-Chief who in case of a positive evaluation invites a Section Editor- an expert in the discipline of the submitted paper. The editor asks peer reviewers to disclose any conflicts of interests when they respond to an invitation to review. Manuscripts are sent to reviewers via e-mail, according to their scientific expertise. The editor ensures the confidential handling of manuscripts, with no details being disclosed to anyone except the peer reviewers without the permission of the author. Reviews are expected within 3 weeks of the acceptance of an invitation to review. Reviewers are provided with a detailed reviewing scheme. They are requested to provide an objective and constructive explanation for their recommendation. The final decision is undertaken by the Editor-in-Chief.

13. Usage of 3rd party materials
Any material taken from any copyrighted source must be accompanied by a written statement from a copyright holder giving the permission to reuse it in Polish Annals of Medicine.
Authors are responsible for obtaining such permissions.

14. Disclaimer
The data and opinions appearing in the articles and advertisements herein are the responsibility of the contributor, sponsor or advertiser concerned.
Editors make every effort that no misleading or inaccurate opinion, data or statements appear in the journal.
Editors accept no liability whatsoever for the consequences of any such inaccurate or misleading data, opinion or statement.
Every effort is made to ensure that drug doses and other quantities are presented accurately. Nevertheless, readers are advised that methods and techniques involving drug usage and other treatments described in Polish Annals of Medicine, should only be followed in conjunction with the drug or treatment manufacturer's own published literature in the readers own country.

15. Submission
Please submit your article to www.editorialsystem.com/paom
The online submission system guides you stepwise through the process of entering your article details and uploading your files.

Papers need to be submitted in a Word format.
The text should be in single-column format.
The layout of the text should be as simple as possible.
Most formatting codes will be removed and replaced on processing the article.
It is possible to use bold face, italics, subscripts, superscripts etc.

Structure
Title page
Do not attach the title page as it will be generated automatically based on information provided in the system.

Abstract
The abstract should not be longer than 250 words and divided into the following paragraphs: Introduction, Aim, Materials and Methods, Results and Discussion, Conclusion. Each section should begin on a new line and briefly describe: the purpose of the study, how the investigation was performed, the most important results and the principal conclusion that the authors drew from the results.
The abstract should be included in the Blinded Manuscript.

Main text
Each part should be treated as a separate section and should be clearly defined and numbered.

Introduction
State the objectives of the work and provide an adequate background, avoiding a detailed literature survey or a summary of the results.
Aim
Indicate what the main purpose of the article is.
Material and methods (or Case study)
This should include details that would allow reproduction of the research. Previously published methods should be summarized and properly referenced. Any modifications to existing methods should also be described.
Results
Results should be clear and concise.
Discussion
Please state the significance of the results of the work, but do not repeat them. Avoid extensive citations and discussion of published literature.
Conclusions
The main conclusions of the study may be presented in a short Conclusions section,
which may stand alone or form a subsection of a Discussion or Results and Discussion
section.

Keywords
Below the abstract provide 3-6 keywords. Please do not repeat the article title.

Figure captions
Ensure that each illustration has a caption. Supply captions separately, not attached to the figure. A caption should comprise a brief title (not on the figure itself) and a description of the illustration.

Acknowledgements
Collate acknowledgements in a separate section and provide in a separate file (template available in the editorial system). List here those individuals who provided help during the research (e.g., providing language help, writing assistance or proof reading the article, etc.).
This section should also include information about:
• Conflict of interest
• Funding
References

Please ensure that every reference cited in the text is also present in the reference list (and vice versa).
Unpublished results and personal communications are not recommended but if included in the reference list they should follow the standard reference style and include a substitution of the publication date with either 'Unpublished results' or 'Personal communication’.
Web references
The full URL should be given and the date when the reference was last accessed together with any further information (DOI, author names, dates, reference to a source publication, etc.).
Reference style
AMA Manual of Style, A Guide for Authors and Editors, Tenth Edition http://www.amamanualofstyle.com/

Reference management software
A template is available in the following reference software:
Zotero: https://www.zotero.org/
EndNote: http://endnote.com/downloads/styles
Mendeley: http://open.mendeley.com/use-citation-style/polish-annals-of-medicine. When preparing your manuscript, you will then be able to select this style using the Mendeley plug-ins for Microsoft Word or LibreOffice.
Other software that can be used for reference management: RefWorks
(http://www.refworks.com ), BibTeX (http://www.bibtex.org ), ProCite
(http://www.procite.com).

Reference style
Text: Indicate references by (consecutive) superscript Arabic numerals in the order in which they appear in the text. The numerals are to be used outside periods and commas, inside colons and semicolons.
Number the references in the list in the order in which they appear in the text.

General rules from the 10th edition

• Items are listed numerically in the order they are cited in the text
• Include up to 6 authors
• For more than six, provide the names of the first three authors and then add et al
• If there is no author, start with the title
• Periodicals (journals, magazines, and newspapers) should have abbreviated titles; to check for the proper abbreviation, search for the Journal Title through LocatorPlus at the National Library of Medicine website https://locatorplus.gov/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First

Examples:
Journal article – in print – one author
Spencer J. Physician, heal thyself – but not on your own please. Med Educ. 2005; 89: 548-549.
Journal article – in print – 2-6 authors
Salwachter AR, Freischlag JA, Sawyer RG, Sanfey HA. The training needs and priorities of male and female surgeons and their trainees. J Am Coll Surg. 2005; 201: 199-205
Journal article – in print – more than 6 authors
Fukushima H, Cureoglu S, Schachern P, et al. Cochlear changes in patients with type 1 diabetes mellitus. Otolaryngol Head Neck Surg. 2005; 133: 100-106.
Journal article – online
*if there is no DOI, provide the URL for the specific article
Coppinger T, Jeanes YM, Hardwick J, Reeves S. Body mass, frequency of eating and breakfast consumption in 9-13- year-olds. J Hum Nutr Diet. 2012; 25(1): 43-49. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-277X.2011.01184.x
Journal article – online from a library database*
*there is no specific way to cite articles found in library databases according to the AMA so double check with your professor
Calhoun D, Trimarco T, Meek R, Locasto D. Distinguishing diabetes: Differentiate between type 1 & type 2 DM. JEMS [serial online]. November 2011; 36(11):32-48. Available from: CINAHL Plus with Full Text, Ipswich, MA. Accessed February 2, 2012.
Newspaper article – in print
*if the city name is not part of the newspaper name, it may be added to the official name for clarity
* if an article jumps from one page to a later page write the page numbers as D1, D5
Wolf W. State’s mail-order drug plan launched. Minneapolis Star Tribune. May 14, 2004:1B.
Newspaper article – online
Pollack A. FDA approves new cystic fibrosis drug. New York Times. January 31, 2012. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/01/business /fda-approves-cystic-fibrosis drug.html?ref=health. Accessed February 1, 2012.
Websites
Outbreak notice: Cholera in Haiti. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site. http://wwwnc.cdc.gov/travel/notices/outbreak notice/haiti-cholera.htm Published October 22, 2010. Updated January 9, 2012. Accessed February 1, 2012
Entire book – in print
Modlin J, Jenkins P. Decision Analysis in Planning for a Polio Outbreak in the United States. San Francisco, CA: Pediatric Academic Societies; 2004.
Book chapter – in print
Solensky R. Drug allergy: desensitization and treatment of reactions to antibiotics and aspirin. In: Lockey P, ed. Allergens and Allergen Immunotherapy. 3rd ed. New York, NY: Marcel Dekker; 2004:585-606.
Supplementary material
Submitted supplementary items are published exactly as they are received. Please submit your material together with the article.

16. After acceptance
Proofs are sent only to the corresponding author who is responsible for the correctness of the text. Any corrections should be submitted either in the form of a list (in email/word) or on the pdf file. Proofs should be sent to the email provided in the instructions attached to the proof only.
The author is requested to provide the License Agreement together with corrections.

17. Questions
All questions should be sent to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . Queries sent directly to Editors will be redirected to the journal email box.
Questions about the status of an article
The authors are requested to check the status of their articles in the system first.