Submissions

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Manuscripts must be written in English, be original and unpublished, and not under consideration elsewhere.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 double-anonymous 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 for download here: JCFT Article Template (.docx). Using the template is mandatory: submissions in other layouts may be returned before peer review.
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.
JCFT 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

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. No Article Processing Charge (APC) applies to papers published in Volume 1 (2026) and to all manuscripts submitted by 31 January 2027. Any charge introduced in later volumes will be announced on this page well in advance, and will never apply to manuscripts already under review.

Reporting Guidelines

Authors must follow the reporting guideline that matches their study design and upload the completed checklist as a supplementary file: CONSORT for randomised trials, STROBE for observational studies, PRISMA for systematic reviews and meta-analyses, CARE for case reports, STARD for diagnostic accuracy studies and ARRIVE for animal research. Clinical trials must be registered before enrolment of the first participant, and the registry name and number stated in the Methods.

Mandatory Statements (back matter)

Every manuscript must end with the following statements, in this order:

Author Contributions — using CRediT taxonomy (conceptualisation, methodology, investigation, data curation, writing – original draft, writing – review and editing, supervision).
Funding — funder and grant number, or a statement that no external funding was received.
Institutional Review Board Statement — committee name, protocol number and date of approval, or a statement that ethical review was not required.
Informed Consent Statement — including written consent for publication in case reports and for any identifiable image.
Data Availability Statement — where the data supporting the findings can be found, or the reason why they cannot be shared.
Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence — authors must disclose any use of AI tools in the preparation of the manuscript, specifying the tool and the purpose. AI tools cannot be listed as authors, and authors remain fully responsible for the content.
Conflicts of Interest — financial and non-financial interests, or a declaration that none exist.

ORCID

An ORCID identifier is required for the corresponding author and strongly recommended for all co-authors. Identifiers are published with the article and sent to Crossref with the article metadata.

Originality Screening

All submissions are screened with plagiarism detection software before peer review. Manuscripts showing substantial overlap with published work, undisclosed duplicate submission or manipulated images are rejected, and the authors’ institution may be informed.

Preprints

Posting a preprint on a recognised server is permitted and is not considered prior publication. Authors must disclose the preprint DOI at submission, and are asked to link the published version to the preprint record after acceptance.

Peer Review Process and Timeline

Submissions are first checked by the editorial office for scope and compliance with these guidelines. Manuscripts that pass this check are assigned to at least two independent reviewers under a double-anonymous model. Editorials, written or commissioned by the Editors-in-Chief, are published in a dedicated Editorial section and are not subject to external peer review. Reviewers are asked to respond to the invitation within one week and to return the review within four weeks. Authors normally receive the first decision within six to eight weeks of submission. Editors who are authors of a submitted manuscript take no part in any editorial decision concerning it, which is handled by the other Editor-in-Chief or by an external editor.

Corrections, Retractions, Appeals and Complaints

Errors identified after publication are addressed through a correction notice linked to the original article, or through retraction when the findings are no longer reliable, following COPE flowcharts. The original article is never removed: it remains available and is marked accordingly. Authors who disagree with a decision may appeal once, by writing to the editorial office with a point-by-point rebuttal; appeals are handled by an editor not involved in the original decision. Complaints about editorial process or conduct are answered within four weeks.

Digital Preservation

Published content is preserved in the PKP Preservation Network and deposited with Crossref, which guarantees long-term availability of articles and metadata independently of the journal website.