Submissions

Editorials

Article prepared by the Editor, a member of the Editorial Board or a guest researcher about orientations in the thematic domain of the journal. If you consider submitting an editorial, please contact the Editorial Board. It shall not exceed 2,000 words.

Original Articles

Original research article. This category includes articles on basic science, epidemiological, qualitative and mixed (quantitative and qualitative) studies, as well as those arising from technological innovations.''Acta Médica del Centro'' will give priority to this type of articles, especially those that present an analytical design in the form of cross-sectional surveys, case-control studies and cohort studies.

These articles will have a maximum length of 6,000 words (excluding abstract, figure legends, acknowledgements and references), tables and figures up to eight and no more than six authors.

Abstract: structured, up to 250 words (Introduction, Objective, Methods, Results, Conclusions).

Introduction: indicate the context or background of the research (e.g., the nature of the problem and its importance) and state the specific purpose or objective of the research or the hypothesis being tested in the study or observation.

Methods: this section is written in the past tense and may have the following structure.
- Design and population:
•Type of study and research design.
• Time period and sites where the research was conducted.
• Selection of participants (universe, samples, selection criteria, number of participants in each group studied).
- Study variables: variables taken into account and their definition.
- Procedures/data collection and management:
• Methods used for the assessments and times at which they were made.
• Equipment and reagents (name, commercial house, country).
• Methods that are already published should be indicated with a reference: only relevant modifications should be described.
- Statistical analysis:
• Describe the statistical methods in satisfactory
• Report indicators of measurement error or uncertainty (such as confidence intervals).
• Avoid relying solely on statistical hypothesis testing, such as the use of p values, which gives no information on the magnitude of the effect.
• Specify the software used and their versions.
For more information on the selection and correct reporting of statistical methods refer to the Statistical Analyses and Methods in the Published Literature (SAMPL Guidelines).
- Ethical considerations:
All research that involves humans must be conducted in accordance with the Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects (Declaration of Helsinki) established by the World Medical Association.
Declare the approval of the research by the ethics committee of the institution. It is the author's responsibility to keep the ethics committee approval documents, the informed consent and the primary records used in the data; editors may request them.

Results: present the results following the logical sequence of the variables studied. Do not repeat in the text all data from tables or illustrations, summarize only the most important observations, do not duplicate data in graphs and tables, use graphs as an alternative to tables with many entries. Give numerical results, not only the derivatives (e.g., percentages) but also the absolute numbers from which they were calculated, and specify the statistical methods used to analyze them. If it includes information from data not shown, it may be requested by the journal.

Discussion: highlight new and important aspects of the research. Do not repeat in detail data that appear in the Introduction or in the Results and do not introduce new data not presented in the Results. Compare and contrast the results with those of other relevant studies. State the limitations of the study and include suggestions for new research to complete the aspects not addressed and recommendations for future development of the topic.

Conclusions: to respond to the objectives of the study in correspondence with the results and discussion. Avoid making categorical statements and drawing conclusions that are not adequately supported by the data. They should be written in the present tense.

Bibliographic references: up to 30 (60% of the bibliography consulted should be from the last five years for journals and 10 years for books).

Conflict of interest: declare whether or not there is a conflict of interest.

Contribution of the authors: declare the personal contribution of each author to the research using the CRediT Taxonomy

Case Reports

Case reports are important in the recognition of new or rare diseases and in the evaluation of the therapeutic or deleterious effects and costs of interventions. They describe one or more clinical cases (short case series) of exceptional observation, difficult or atypical presentation that suggest a diagnostic and therapeutic challenge and that, together with a brief and relevant review of the literature, make an important contribution to the knowledge of the pathophysiology or other aspects of the process.
It is suggested that authors review the Consensus based Clinical Case Reporting Guideline Development (CARE) guide prior to submission.

These articles will have a maximum length of 3000 words (excluding abstract, figure legends, acknowledgements and references), up to five figures and no more than three authors, in very justified cases up to five.

The words "case report" should appear in the title.

Abstract: Introduction (What is unique about this case? What does it contribute?). The case presentation should include the patient's main symptoms and important clinical findings, main diagnoses, therapeutic interventions and outcomes. Conclusions (What were the main lessons to be learned from the case?).

Introduction: briefly summarize the background of the case with reference to the relevant medical literature, what is unique about this case, what does it bring to the medical literature?

Patient information: provide demographic information and main symptoms; describe clinical findings, diagnostic evaluation, therapeutic intervention, follow-up and outcomes.

Discussion: describe the strengths and limitations in the management of this case; analyze and compare the main findings with those of other cases reported in the relevant medical literature; justify the conclusions and the main lessons that can be drawn from this case report.

Bibliographic references: up to 15 (60% of the bibliography consulted should be from the last five years for journals and 10 years for books).

Conflict of interest: declare whether or not there is a conflict of interest.

Contribution of the authors: declare the personal contribution of each author to the research using the CRediT Taxonomy.

Comunications

Las comunicaciones breves son artículos científicos de corta extensión que tienen el objetivo de dar a conocer una hipótesis, los resultados parciales o definitivos de una investigación, los avances sobre técnicas de diagnóstico o tratamiento u otras observaciones de interés para la comunidad científica y que justifiquen su publicación con mayor rapidez.

Estos artículos tendrán una extensión máxima de 3 000 palabras sin incluir las referencias, no más de dos tablas o figuras y hasta tres autores.

Resumen estructurado, Introducción (breve, una página como máximo, donde se incluye el objetivo), Métodos, Resultados, Discusión (no debe ser muy extensa, una página como máximo, expresando sus consideraciones finales) y Conclusiones.

Referencias bibliográficas: serán hasta 15 (el 60% de la bibliografía consultada debe ser de los últimos cinco años para revistas y 10 años para libros).

Conflicto de intereses: declarar si existe o no conflicto de intereses.

Contribución de los autores: declarar la contribución personal de cada autor a la investigación auxiliándose de la Taxonomía CRediT.

Letters to the Editor

The Editorial Board encourages readers of ''Acta Médica del Centro'' to send comments, considerations or objections to articles published in the journal. Letters are received within four weeks of the publication of the article to which they refer and will be sent to the author, who will have two weeks to reply; once the reply has been published, no further correspondence will be accepted. They should be written in appropriate language, respecting the ethical guidelines of the profession, although this does not preclude ethical criticism of concepts, methodologies, results and interpretations.
Articles addressed to the editor will also be accepted with the aim of informing him/her of any relevant fact from the scientific, teaching or health care point of view that deserves to be published in the journal.

Letters have a maximum length of 3,000 words, not including references (up to 10), a table or figure and up to three authors.

Review Articles

These are articles in which a topic is analyzed in a detailed, selective and critical way from its first appearances in the world literature to the current state of knowledge of the subject. It is not just a passive and more or less prolix review of the literature, but an active review, nourishing with something more than what everyone could get from reading what has been previously published. Hence, tables and explanatory illustrations may be included.

The maximum length of these articles will be 5,000 words (excluding abstract, figure legends and references), tables and figures up to six and no more than three authors.

Abstract: structured, up to 250 words (Introduction, Objective, Method, Conclusions).

Introduction: define the current state of the subject and how it behaves in the national, regional or global context. Substantiate the scientific problem that gave rise to the review and clearly describe the objectives of the work, the importance and usefulness of the review.

Methods:
- Eligibility criteria: specify the characteristics of the report according to the eligibility criteria used to conduct the review (e.g., years considered, languages, publication status), giving justification.
- Sources of information: describe all the sources of information used in the search (e.g., databases, dates of search and date of the last search performed). Criteria and justification for the selection of the sources consulted. Number of articles by type (original articles, theses, systematic reviews, etc.).
-Bibliographic search: present the complete electronic search strategy for at least one database, including the limits used (e.g., period reviewed, language, etc.), so that it can be repeated. State the terms (descriptors or keywords), the search engines used, the number of articles consulted and the number of articles selected. Specify the criteria for the selection of documents (these are determined by the objectives of the review, i.e., the question the research is trying to answer; the methodological and scientific quality, reliability and validity of the selected articles will also be taken into account).

Development: the results and discussion will be written together and will constitute the fundamental basis of the article.
- Provide the number of studies evaluated, assessed for eligibility and included in the review, with the reasons for exclusions at each stage, ideally with a flow chart.
- Summarize the main results based on the strongest evidence.
- Discuss divergences or overlaps with other research on the topic, limitations in the research, inadequacies in knowledge.
- Express your critical opinion on the topic under review.
- Include figures and tables that highlight relevant aspects, without incurring in repetitions of information.

Conclusions: Respond clearly to the defined objective. Present possible applications of current knowledge based on the compiled information. Provide a general interpretation of the results in the context of other tests and implications for future research.

Bibliographic references: up to 50 (75% of the bibliography consulted should be from the last five years for journals and 10 years for books).

Conflict of interest: declare whether or not there is a conflict of interest.

Contribution of the authors: declare the personal contribution of each author to the research using the CRediT Taxonomy.

Culture and Medicine

A space dedicated to a diversity of topics from different specialties in the medical field that are related to history and art. These articles should be accompanied by an unstructured abstract indicating the objective, methodology used, main contributions and conclusions of the research. The body of the article should present a brief and clear background, as well as the scope, originality and importance of the topic, the objective of the research and the research method employed. Include a critical analysis of the sources consulted and present concrete conclusions that respond to the objective of the research.

The structure of the article can be Introduction, Development and Conclusions, however, this section does not have a fixed structure, so authors are allowed to organize the article in sections according to their convenience and creativity, to facilitate the development and understanding of the topic. Any type of article related to this section may be included.

These articles will have a maximum length of 3,500 words not including references, which will be up to 15, figures and tables up to three and no more than three authors.

Conflict of interest: declare whether or not there is a conflict of interest.

Contribution of the authors: declare the personal contribution of each author to the research using the CRediT Taxonomy.

Clinicopathological Sessions

In this section we will publish clinical cases, in the form of clinicopathological discussion, which are selected for their clinical relevance and their interest in the differential diagnosis process. Cases presented in the Clinicopathological Sessions held in other hospitals can be submitted as long as they have not been previously published.

These articles will have a maximum length of 6000 words (excluding abstract, figure legends and references), figures and tables up to 10 and no more than 10 authors.

Abstract: unstructured.

Case presentation: radiographs and other imaging techniques necessary for the development of the discussion can be provided (three pages maximum).

Clinical discussion: including the differential diagnosis and the clinical diagnosis based on the most relevant criteria of the participants in the session.

Anatomopathological discussion: macroscopic and microscopic findings complemented with images -microphotographs should contain scale markers and the staining method used-, and a brief review of the subject that may include aspects such as: history, evolution, classification, characteristics, epidemiology, pathogenesis, etiology, peculiarities, perspectives on treatment, etc.

Final diagnosis: direct cause of death, intermediate cause of death, basic cause of death and other diagnoses.

Bibliographic references: up to 20 (60% of the bibliography consulted must be from the last five years for journals and 10 years for books).

Information Management

Espacio dedicado a una diversidad de temas relacionados con el Sistema de Información en Salud.

La estructura, la extensión, el número de referencias y la cantidad de autores variarán en dependencia del tipo de artículo presentado.

Special Articles

Son artículos que por su importancia, por su aporte científico y por la relevancia que pueda tener su contenido, el Consejo Editorial de la revista los considera como especiales.