SUBMISSION CHECKLIST AND SUBMISSION FORMATS

• Text:Always use a new Microsoft Word document to create your article. Do not use a previously created Word document as the basis (i.e., a template) for your article. All previous articles have underlying (often irremovable) coding that interferes with processing; making your article unusable. Maximum length of articles depends upon article type and excludes title, reported by, footnotes, references, and acknowledgments. Surveillance summary and outbreak investigation reports should not exceed 3,500 words in the main body of the text. Use of subheadings in the main body of the text is recommended. Illustrations are encouraged.

  Report laboratory and epidemiologic results within a public health perspective. Explain the value of the the reports in public health terms and place the findings in a larger perspective (i.e. “Here is what we found, and here is what the findings mean”)

• References and Endnotes: Keep references preferably up to forty (40) with the most relevant and latest one. These are numbered in the order in which they are cited, first through the text, then through the figure and finally through the table legends.

  Place citation numbers for references and endnotes within parentheses, italicized: (18, 19) (18-20) (18, 20-22). There should be only one reference list covering citations in the paper.

  Each reference should have a unique number; do not combine references or embed references in notes. Any references to in-press manuscripts at the time of submission should be given a number in the text and placed, in correct sequence, in the references and notes.

  Endnotes should be used for information aimed at the specialist (e.g., procedures) or to provide definitions or further information to the general reader that are not essential to the data or arguments. Notes can cite other references (by number). Journal article references should be complete, including the full list of authors, the full titles, and the inclusive pagination. Titles are displayed in the online HTML version, but not in the print or the PDF versions of papers.
• Citation Style:
  NLM citation style should be followed
  

  For journal articles: List initials first for all authors, separated by a space (e.g., A. B. Opus, B. C. Hobbs). Do not use “and.” Titles of cited articles should be included (lowercase except for the first word and proper nouns), followed by a period (see examples below). Journal titles are in italics; volume numbers follow, in boldface. (If there is no volume number, use the publication year in its place.) Do not place a comma before the volume number or before any parentheses. You may provide the full inclusive pages of the article. If the publication is online only, use the article number (or citation number) instead of the page. Journal years are in parentheses: (1996). End each listing with a period. Do not use “ibid.” or ”op. cit.” (these cannot be linked online).

  For monographs, memos, or reports: The style for author or editor names is as above. The title should be in quotes and should have initial caps. After the title, provide (in parentheses) the report number (if applicable), publisher name, and year. If these are unavailable, or if the work is unpublished, please provide all information needed for a reader to locate the work; this may include a URL or a Web or FTP address. Monographs in series (such as AGU Monogr.) may be treated as journals.

• Tables: Tables should be included after the references and should supplement, not duplicate, the text. Tables should be created using the Word table function or in Excel. Authors should study tables in previous articles for style. Tables cannot have tabs or extra spaces within the cells. Tables should be embedded in text. They should be called out within the text and numbered in the order of their citation in the text. The first sentence of the table legend should be a brief descriptive title. Every vertical column should have a heading, consisting of a title with the unit of measure in parentheses. Units should not change within a column. Footnotes should contain information relevant to specific entries or parts of the table. Recommended number of tables in the article should be as per appropriate.
• Figure legends: These should be double-spaced in numerical order. A short figure title should be given as the first line of the legend. No single legend should be longer than 20 words. Nomenclature, abbreviations,symbols, and units used in a figure should match those used in the text. Any individually labeled figure parts or panels (A, B, etc.) should be specifically described by part name within the legend.
• Figures: Figures should be called out within the text. Figures should be created in (not pasted into) Adobe Illustrator, PowerPoint, Excel or (in the case of maps) vector format files (such as .ai, .eps, and .wmf). Figures should be embedded in text and have keys/legends. Figures should be numbered in the order of their citation in the text. For initial submission, figures should be embedded directly in the .docx or PDF manuscript file. Recommended number of figures in the article should be as per appropriate.