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Author Guidelines

Author Guidelines

General Information

Journal of Clinical and Forensic Traumatology (JCFT) publishes original research, reviews, case reports, diagnostic and imaging studies, brief communications, and editorials related to trauma in its clinical, surgical, psychological, forensic, and experimental aspects.
Manuscripts must be written in English, be original and unpublished, and not under consideration elsewhere.
All submissions undergo blind peer review.

Authors are responsible for ensuring that the content is accurate, ethical, and compliant with all research and publication standards.

 

Manuscript Preparation

Manuscripts should be submitted in Microsoft Word (.docx) format using the JCFT Article Template available on the journal website.
Text should be 1.15-spaced, with 2.5 cm margins, in Times New Roman, 11 pt, and justified alignment.
All pages must be numbered consecutively.

Each manuscript must contain the following sections in this order:

  1. Title Page
    • Full title (concise but informative)
    • Short title (≤50 characters)
    • Full author names, institutional affiliations, city, country
    • Corresponding author: name, address, email
  2. Abstract
    • 150–250 words, structured as Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions.
    • 3–6 keywords (in lowercase, separated by semicolons).
  3. Main Text
    • Introduction
    • Materials and Methods (or Patients and Methods for clinical studies)
    • Results
    • Discussion
    • Conclusions
  4. Acknowledgments (optional)
    Mention any contributors, grants, or funding sources.
  5. Conflicts of Interest
    State any potential conflicts or declare “The authors declare no conflict of interest.”
  6. Funding
    Indicate funding sources or state “This research received no external funding.”
  7. References
    See format below.

 

Tables and Figures

  • Tables and figures should be numbered consecutively (Table 1, Figure 1, etc.) and cited in the text in order.
  • Each must have a clear title and legend.
  • Figures should be submitted in .jpg, .tif, or .png, minimum 300 dpi.
  • Patient faces or identifying details must be blurred or removed.

 

Ethical Standards

All studies involving humans or animals must state approval by an Ethics Committee and include the approval number or statement.
For case reports, written informed consent must be obtained from the patient or next of kin.
JCFTraum adheres to the COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) and ICMJE recommendations.
Any detected plagiarism, data fabrication, or ethical violation will result in rejection and possible reporting to institutional authorities.

 

Article Types and Length

Article Type

Structure

Word Limit (main text)

References

Original Research

IMRaD format

up to 5,000

≤50

Review / Systematic Review

Structured

up to 6,000

≤100

Case Report

Structured (Intro, Case, Discussion)

up to 3,000

≤25

Short Communication

Free format

up to 2,000

≤15

Editorial / Letter

Free format

up to 1,000

≤10

Reference Style (Vancouver)

References must be numbered in the order of appearance in the text, using superscript Arabic numerals (e.g., “as previously reported¹²…”).
List all authors if ≤6; if >6, list the first six followed by et al.

Examples:

Journal article:
Rossi A, Bianchi I, et al. Clinical-forensic correlation in thoracic trauma: a multidisciplinary overview. J Clin Forensic Traumatol. 2025;1(1):1–10.

Book:
Demetriades D, Moore EE. Trauma Surgery. 3rd ed. Springer; 2020.

Book chapter:
Rossi I, Bianchi M. Forensic aspects of trauma documentation. In: Rossi P, ed. Handbook of Forensic Medicine.Wiley-Blackwell; 2024:145–160.

Web source:
World Health Organization. Global status report on road safety 2023. Available at: https://www.who.int. Accessed May 10, 2025.

 

Units, Abbreviations, and Style

Use SI units throughout. Define all abbreviations at first mention.
Drug names should use generic terms.
Statistical significance should be indicated as p < 0.05 unless otherwise specified.

 

Submission and Peer Review

Authors must upload:

  1. Main manuscript file (without author names, for double-blind review)
  2. Title page (with author details)
  3. Figures and tables (if not embedded)
  4. Ethical approval or consent forms (if applicable)

All submissions are screened for originality and undergo double-blind peer review by at least two independent experts.

 

Open Access and Copyright

All articles are published under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) license.
Authors retain copyright and grant the publisher the right of first publication.
There are no submission fees, but accepted manuscripts are subject to an Article Processing Charge (APC) as described on the journal’s payment page.

Submission Preparation Checklist

Before submitting a manuscript to the Journal of Clinical and Forensic Traumatology (JCFT), authors must ensure that their submission meets the following requirements.
Submissions that do not comply may be returned before peer review.

  1. The manuscript is original, has not been published previously, and is not under consideration by another journal.
  2. The submission follows the JCFT Author Guidelines and uses the official article template. The text is written in clear English, with consistent formatting, numbering of pages, and complete sections (Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, References).
  3. All figures and tables are numbered, cited in sequence, and accompanied by appropriate titles and legends. References are formatted in Vancouver style and verified for accuracy.
  4. Any study involving human or animal subjects includes an Ethics Committee approval statement and/or informed consent, as required. All identifying personal data have been removed or anonymized.
  5. The main manuscript file is anonymized for double-blind review (no author names or affiliations). A separate Title Page with full author information is uploaded as an additional file.
  6. All authors have reviewed the final version of the manuscript, agree with its contents, and approve its submission. Data and materials are accurate, original, and available for verification.
  7. The authors understand that accepted articles will be published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0) and that an Article Processing Charge (APC) will apply only after acceptance.

Copyright Notice

Authors who publish in Journal of Clinical and Forensic Traumatology (JCFT) agree to the following terms:

  1. Copyright and License
    Authors retain full copyright of their work. Upon publication, they grant Global Forensic Publishing S.a.s., the publisher of JCFT, the right of first publication.
    All articles are distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
    License details: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
  2. Author Rights
    Authors are free to:
    • Share, copy, and redistribute their article in any medium or format.
    • Adapt, remix, transform, and build upon the material for any purpose, including commercial use.
    • Deposit the published version in institutional or subject repositories immediately after publication, without embargo.
  3. Attribution Requirement
    Any third-party use of the material must give appropriate credit to the authors and to Journal of Clinical and Forensic Traumatology, provide a link to the license, and indicate if changes were made.
  4. Warranty and Responsibility
    Authors confirm that their submission is original, does not infringe any existing copyright, and that all co-authors have approved the submission.
    The publisher assumes no responsibility for the content of published works; responsibility lies solely with the authors.

By submitting to JCFT, authors acknowledge and agree to these terms.