All English language manuscripts must be submitted in triplicate, as follows:

1 original, bearing the names of all the authors, including their telephone numbers and telex and FAX codes, as available; and

2 easily legible copies without names to be sent by the author or principal author to that Asssociated Editor who is responsible for his country of residence (for addresses, see masthead); in the case that no Associate Editor has been assigned to a country, the author should send the manuscript and 2 copies to one of the two Ediors-in-Chief.

The Editorial Board is authorized to perform editorial corrections in the sense as laid down in the ªInstructions for Authorsº if not satisfactorily complied with by the author(s). The submitted contributions should not have been previously or be simultaneously submitted to another journal. The submitted contributions are examined anonymously by two referees. If the referees are of the opinion that certain corrections are warranted, the manuscripts are returned to the authors together with the suggestions made by the referees. After the appropriate corrections have been made, the manuscript should be directly returned to the Editors-in-Chief. The principal author will receive a galley proof after acceptance of the manuscript. He is responsible for the contents of his contribution, for the correct positioning of the illustrations and tables, and for correct spelling. The corrected proof should be sent promptly to Georg Thieme Verlag.

2. With the acceptance of the contribution for publication by the Editorial Board all rights are transferred to the publishers in accordance with existing legislation.

3. Contributions concerning all subheadings featured by the journal are acepted for consideration: Surveys, original articles, case reports, technical innovations, letters to the editor, book reviews, communications, conress announcements, questions and answers.

4. A clear, easily comprehensible style will enhance the value of a paper and give it a high readability score. The paper should be well organized and subdivided clearly into sections. The use of subheadings is suggested to facilitate orientation.

An original contribution should not exceed 10-12 typewritten pages (including illustrations and tables) in 1 1 /2 lines interlinear spacing with about 30 lines per typescript page. Case reports should be limited to 2-3 type-written pages including 2 illustrations. Original papers rank first in importance when determining the order of publication. Case reports are featured in accordance with available space.

Special value is placed on a concise and clearly written summary in English and if possible in French, Spanish, and German. This should be confined to essentials (methods preferred, results obtained) and should not exceed 15-20 typewritten lines.

Organization of summary:
a) Topic or aim of the study or article (1 to 2 sentences)
b) Method(s) employed (1 to 2 sentences)
c) Own results (approx. half to one typewritten page)
d) Conclusions (1 to 2 sentences)
e) English, French, Spanish, and German key words

5. The manuscript should be organized as follows:
I. Title
II. Author(s)
III. Clinic, Department, Institution (College, University, etc.)
IV. Date of submission of manuscript
V. Summary in English, French, Spanish, German
VI. Key words in English, French, Spanish, German
VII. Beginning of text
VIII. Address of author to be stated at the end of the manuscript.

Preparation of manuscripts on diskette

Will you please see to it that the following 10 easy conditions are fulfilled:

1) Labelling of the diskette
a) Author and short title
b) Operating system (DOS, Windows, Macintosh)
c) Text program (MS-Word, Wordperfect, etc.)
2) Employ ASCII data set
3) Use ragged-edge setting, not flush right and left
(approx. 60 spacings per line, 30 lines per page)
4) Write continuously, press return key only at end of a paragraph
5) Do not separate syllables automatically or manually at end of line
6) Do not indent paragraphs
7) Distinguish clearly between hyphens and em-dashes. Hyphens for hyphenated words only. Em-dash to indicate interruption in the sequence of a sentence. Em-dash has the length of two en-dashes or twice the hyphen key
8) No spacing before ,;:!?% and within e.g., i.e. etc. (United States usage: omit period in e.g. = eg, i.e. = ie, etc.)
9) Clear marking of individual elements of illustrations and of legends
10) Tables, references, footnotes and legends to illustrations to be stored as separate data sets at the end of the manuscript

Tables and Illustrations

Legends must be given on a separate page.

The author should carefully check on the need for color illustrations. The publishers will have to bill the cost for such illustrations to the author since they are much more expensive than black-and-white illustrations. It is, therefore, recommended to request publishers for a cost estimate before deciding on color illustrations.

The editors reserve the right to omit illustrations to save space or to avoid re- petition, to reduce the size, to select a cutout, and to combine illustrations which are related to each other, in one block.

Tables should be consecutively numbered with Arabic numerals and should be supplied on a separate page together with their legend.

Letters, numbers, arrows or symbols used in graphs and curves should be sufficiently large as to remain readable after reduction.

References

References should be listed, supplied on a separate page, arranged alphabetically by author. Several titles by one author should be arranged in chronological order. All references should be numbered in sequence of appearance. References in the text should give the author.s name and the corresponding number in the reference list or the reference number only. If there are more than two authors, the principal author only should be listed (Miller et al). The list of references should include only such references which are mentioned in the text. The following rules of bibliography should be followed:

a) Books and contributions to books. Examples:
¹Glees P. Das menschliche Gehirn. Stuttgart: Hippokrates, 1968
²Baffes TG. Diaphragmatic Hernia. In: Mustard WT, Ravitch MM, Snyder
WH Jr, Welch KJ, Benson CD. Pediatric Surgery, Vol 1, 2nd ed. Chicago: Year Book Med Publ, 1969: 342-356

b) Journals

Name(s) of author(s), initials of first names, complete title of publication, abbreviated title of journal according to list of journals in Index Medicus.

Examples:
¹Smith EM. Diagnostic use of anorectal manometry in children. J Pediatr Surg 1977; 12: 44-57
²McMillan JH, Ferber WG, Wreden B, von Taller EM. Die zweizeitige Milzruptur. Chirurg 1940; 14: 265-275

Attention: Liability

During the technical production of books and journals checks are repeatedly made for print errors, with particular reference also to doses and dosage schedules. Failing expert knowledge on the part of proofreaders, however, all that can be done is to see whether printed matter and manuscript agree. The responsibility for the correctness of data and statements made in the manuscript rests entirely with you as the author. We should join hands in reducing the risk of right of recourse or claim to dam ages, and in this regard your responsible cooperation is fundamental.

Proofs

Reprints