AUTHOR GUIDELINES

SUBMISSION OF MANUSCRIPTSAs of January 1, 2006, all new manuscripts should be submitted to oursubmission/peer review website by using the “Submit Manuscript” linkat http://www.jamda.com. The website guides authors stepwise throughthe creation and uploading of the various files. Authors are requestedto submit the text, tables, and artwork in electronic form (not as aPDF) to this address. In an accompanying letter, authors should statethat the manuscript, or parts of it, have not been and will not besubmitted elsewhere for publication. Authors are highly encouraged toinclude a list of three or more potential reviewers for their manuscript,with complete contact information.

Submission items include a cover letter (save as a separate file forupload), suggested reviewers, title page (saved separately from themanuscript main text), the manuscript (including abstract, manuscripttext, references, and table/figure legends, without any authoridentifiers). Revised manuscripts should also be accompanied by aunique file (separate from the covering letter) with responses toreviewers’ comments. The preferred order of files is as follows: coverletter, response to reviewers (revised manuscripts only), title page,manuscript file(s), table(s), figure(s). Files should be labeled withappropriate and descriptive file names (e.g., Text.doc, Fig1.eps,Table3.doc). Upload text, tables and graphics as separate files. Do notimport figures or tables into the text document and do not upload yourtext as a PDF. Complete instructions for electronic artwork submissioncan be found on the Author Gateway, accessible through the journalhome page.

REVIEW PROCESSSubmissions are reviewed by the editor, and are usually sent to twoexternal reviewers. The typical turnaround time from submission toauthors receiving the reviewers’ comments is less than 6 weeks;however, at times there are delays.

CRITERIAEvaluation of an article’s suitability for publication is based on: theoriginality of the material, the clarity of the writing, theappropriateness of the study methods, validity of the data, and howwell the conclusions are supported by the data. The information mustbe important and of long-term care and geriatric interest.

COVER LETTERBriefly describe the contributions of each author. Financial disclosureand any information regarding conflict of interest should be addressedin a cover letter at the time of first submission.

ASSURANCESAcknowledgment of support should be reported in an appropriate partof the text as well or as a footnote on the first page. When humansubjects are involved, the article should also include a statement thatthe research protocol was approved by the relevant institutional reviewboards or ethics committees and that written consent was obtainedfrom all participants. Alternatively, author(s) should indicate when awaiver of consent was obtained from the IRB.

TITLE PAGEList all authors, indicating title and affiliation for each. Every individualwho contributed to the article in any way should be acknowledged.Provide a mailing address and phone/fax/email information for thecorresponding author and an alternate correspondent, if possible.Please provide 3–4 key words for indexing, and a running title of no

more than 45 characters.

FORMATPlease double-space the entire manuscript and number the pages. Thestructure to be used is listed below in the individual categories.

TEXTThe entire text should be free of any author identification.

REFERENCESFull references should be used. List the first four authors’ last namesand initials; if more than four, insert ‘‘et al.’’ after the third name.References should be annotated in the text with superscripts and listedat the end of the article in the order in which they appear. Medlineabbreviations should be used for journal titles. Style:

Journal—Smith J, Jones A, Doe J, et al. Title of article. J AmMed Dir Assoc 2000;6:1-10.Book Chapter—Smith J. Title of Chapter. In: Jones A, DoeJ, eds. Title of Book, 3rd Ed. New York: ChurchillLivingstone, 2006.Book—Smith J, Jones A, Doe J. Title of Book, 2nd Ed., NewYork: Churchill Livingstone, 2005.Website—http://www.websiteaddress. Accessed on January1, 2006.

ILLUSTRATIONSGraphs and charts can usually be recreated by the ProductionDepartment. Permission to reproduce illustrations that were publishedelsewhere must be included. The cost of color illustrations must beborne by the authors.

CATEGORIES

ORIGINAL STUDIESPlease provide a structured abstract using the following headings:Objectives, design, setting, participants, intervention (if any),measurements, results, and conclusion.

Text should be approximately 8–10 double-spaced pages in length,using the following format:

Introduction—should describe the question posed that theresearch was designed to answer.Methods—should describe the design, how it was carried out,selection and assignment of subjects, treatment, outcomemeasurements and statistical methods.Results—should be listed in order of importance, and includeany adverse effects.Discussion—should provide a brief synopsis of the findings,limitations of the study, and a comparison with relevant findingsfrom other studies.Conclusion—should provide a brief summary of the implicationsof the study findings.

Meta-analyses will be considered original research.

REVIEW ARTICLESReviewsA review article is a systematic, critical assessment of the literature anddata sources relevant to clinical topics (including treatment) that arecommonly encountered in long-term care settings. Authors shouldemphasize factors such as cause, diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, ortherapeutic intervention(s). All articles and date sources reviewed

should include information about a specific type of study (eg, casestudy, double-blind, randomized trial), population, intervention, andoutcomes. Articles or data sources should be selected systematically forinclusion in the review and critically evaluated. The selection processshould be described in the paper. The typical length is 12–15 double-spaced pages, not including tables, figures and references). Submissionof a textbook replication is discouraged. The review section alsoincludes brief reviews. These articles are narrow in scope, answering asingle clinical question, such as: What is an effective intervention forprevention of injurious falls? All review articles should be formattedusing the following headings: Objectives/Introduction; Methods (datasources, type of study); Results; Discussion, Conclusion.

ControversiesThese articles will deal with behaviors or practices in long-term caresettings that lack an evidence base, but rather are guided by opinions oflocal leaders and/or regulations without a clearly tested process thatleads to a beneficial outcome. The following structure should be used:Problem, Significance of the Problem, Discussion, Conclusion.

Clinical Practice in Long-Term CareBased on the AMDA Curriculum on Geriatric Clinical Practice inLong-Term Care, this section provides articles of interest to thepracticing, long-term care medical provider. Each article is asystematic, critical review of the literature relevant to a geriatric, clinicaltopic commonly encountered in long-term care settings.

MEDICAL MANAGEMENTThese articles deal with existing or new clinical practice guidelines,ways to implement them, and experiences derived from using them. Itwill include empiric information of the work process in the long-termcare setting that applies research-derived information to the workplace.Examples: Prompted voiding to reduce wetness or Tai Chi as anintervention to reduce the rate of falls.

Clinical experience reports should address the use of assessment and/or intervention methods in the long-term care setting (home, assistedliving, and nursing facilities), which have the potential to improvequality of care or quality of life. Examples: Algorithms, clinical practiceguidelines, the impact of regulatory requirements on practice or policy,and procedure implementation. These reports may describe a clinicalexperience or an investigation that is preliminary but that may be ofclinical or scientific interest. The manuscript should include a shortintroduction and rationale, a methods section to include subjects andapproach, and an outcomes or results section. In the case results are notavailable, some mention should be made of methods to be employedto measure outcome of the work process. The reports are limited to 10double-spaced narrative manuscript pages with 1–2 tables and/orfigures, plus a brief, structured abstract using the headings above.

Forms and checklists are welcome as tables or appendices.

Case reports should be approximately 3–5 double-spaced, typewrittenpages and contain instructional value, such as those of successfulinterventions in managing uncommon syndromes or unsuccessfulones where a diagnosis was made after the fact.

QUALITY IMPROVEMENTThese articles are case-based presentations of nursing home behavior/practice that led to an adverse regulatory or legal outcome. Thediscussant should review state-of-the-art practice/clinical guidelinesthat, if applied, would have resulted in a satisfactory conclusion. Theformat to use is: Case presentation, comments, recommendations.

LONG-TERM CARE AROUND THE GLOBEThis section reports on long-term care services in different countriesand health systems aimed to educate and exchange information. Whenfeasible, these articles should include a brief structured abstract statingobjectives, design, methods, results and conclusion.

SPECIAL ARTICLESSpecial articles are usually solicited by the editor. Topics of interest tothe readers, which do not easily fit into any of the regular categories,will appear in this section.

IN TOUCHThis section affords authors the opportunity to share personalexperiences with the readers. They are generally 3–5 double-spacedpages, non-clinical in nature, and should pertain, in some way, to long-term care issues. Appropriate topics include: compassion, quality oflife, human value, dignity of death and the sanctity of life. A short storyformat, fact or fiction, is acceptable.

LETTERSLetters should be double-spaced and approximately 1–3 pages in length.Those referring to an article published in the journal should besubmitted within 1 month of the article’s appearance and may be sentto the author of the paper for a response. References and a smallillustration are acceptable.

IMAGESWe invite our readers to submit photographs, including those for thecover. They should be of a non-clinical nature, and relate, in someway, to long-term care issues. Photos that will tug at the heartstrings ofreaders or make them smile are most welcome. Please provide thename of the photographer and the date and place where the picturewas taken. A suggested caption is encouraged, or one will be providedby the editorial staff.