Scientific Journal

Scientific Journal of the Hellenic Companion Animal Veterinary Society (HCAVS)

 

Instructions for authors

Submitted manuscripts should comply with the Instructions to Authors and be accompanied by a cover letter from the authors, the details of which are set out below.

Manuscript types

1) Editorials
Short articles or commentaries of current issues and topics commissioned by the Editor or after invitation by the Editor.

2) Research and Clinical Studies
These are original clinical or basic research articles, prospective or retrospective The main text should be limited to 4,000 words with up to 40 references.

3) Reviews
The recent developments in an important clinical problem and the experience of the authors are presented, while at the same time the conclusions of a series of research studies or interesting cases treated by the authors may be mentioned. The length of the main text should be no more than 5,000 words and the references should be at least 30 and up to 50.

4) Case reports
Detailed description of unique or rarely reported clinical entities or application of new diagnostic methods or therapeutic interventions of one to five cases. If the number of the cases presented is higher than five then the manuscript should be submitted as an original clinical study or short communication. The text should be limited to 3,000 words, with up to 20 references.

5) Step by step
Presentation of some interesting technique, with the visual material required, image captions, and limited text (no more than 1,500 words), in which the technique will be described step by step with corresponding images for each step.

6) Letter to the Editor
They are commentaries referred to articles published by the journal. Their length should be limited to 1,000 words, with up to 5 references.

Preparation of the manuscript

Manuscripts must be submitted via email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. accompanied by a cover letter, addressed to the Editor-In-Chief. The letter should state: the title and the type of manuscript, that the latter has not been partially or fully published and has not been simultaneously submitted for publication in another printed or electronic medium, that the study was conducted in accordance with national legislation governing the management of animals, that all authors have read and accepted the text of the manuscript and that in case of acceptance for publication the copyright belongs to H.J.C.A.M. On submission, the manuscript receives a Reference Number which is communicated to the corresponding author, who uses it in all communications with the journal. Manuscripts are submitted in Greek or English, in a doc or docx (MS Word) file. The text must be double lined spaced with a margin of 3 cm in all sides and should be written in Times New Roman fonts, size 12 pt. Lines should be numbered consecutively throughout the text in the left margin of the page.

Manuscript should include:

  1. (a) the title in bold lowercase letters, (b) the names of the authors (their surnames, the initials of their first name and optionally their patronymic), (c) affiliations of all authors, separated by numerical superscripts, (d) the name, postal and electronic address, as well as the telephone number of the corresponding author, whose name is also marked with an asterisk (*), and (e) the short title of the manuscript, consisting of up to forty characters.

  2. Abstract and keywords
    Abstracts must be up to 300 words on the same page as the title. Structured abstracts are required for all types of manuscript except letters to the editor. The structure must be in line with the structure of the manuscript (see below). Three to five keywords should be provided below the abstract. Keywords should correspond to the international terms of MeSH (Medical Subject Headings, https://meshb.nlm.nih.gov/search and be rendered in Greek..

  3. Main text
    Research/clinical studies should include:
    i) Introduction: It should provide enough pertinent information on the topic and a clear statement of the purpose of the study.
    ii) Materials and methods: There should be a description of how the materials were obtained and/or how the animals that participated in the study were selected, as well as a clear description of the methodology applied and the methods of statistical analysis used. In the case of studies involving the use of laboratory animals, the approval number by the competent Veterinary Authority must be mentioned. If clinical cases are involved, a sample of the owner’s informed consent should be provided.
    iii) Results: They must be presented in a rational order, be relevant to the aim of the research, meet the requirements of the research and avoid repetitions in the text. Tables and diagrams are desirable in order to limit the length of the text.
    iv) Discussion: In this the most important findings of the work are commented on. The results are discussed in relation to the aim of the study stated in the introduction. If there are findings that were not expected or are contrary to the original hypothesis, an attempt to explain them should be made. The discussion should not be a simple repetition of the results. Findings not described in the results should not be mentioned and commented on in the discussion. A comparison with the results of other research should be made, alongside reporting the findings of the study as they emerge from its results. Finally, the conclusions of the study and the possible application in clinical practice must be given.
    Reviews are capitalized freely based on the authors’ choices.
    Case reports should be comprised by introduction, description and discussion.
    Step-by-step articles and letters to the editor are not subdivided into sections.

  4. Conflict of interest
    Authors are required to disclose any potential financial conflict of interest, for example patent ownership, stock ownership, consultancies or speaker fees. Such financial arrangements with companies that are direct competitors for any product featured in the publication are also considered a conflict of interest. In case of absence of conflicts, at this point it is stated: «The authors declare that there is no conflict of interest».

  5. Acknowledgements
    They should be addressed to those who have made a real contribution to the study.

  6. References
    References should be prepared using the Harvard style. If a reference refers to a study in the Greek language, it can be written in Greek, following the same order of writing names, date, title, etc.
    References in the text are presented with the names of authors and the year of publication (e.g. Jones 1997, Gregory 1999). Where there are two authors, both should be included with an ampersand, along with the year of publication (e.g. Pascoe & Bennett 1999). Where there are three or more authors, there should be the first author’s name followed by et al. (e.g. Williams et al. 2016).The references are listed at the end of the text alphabetically, based on the last name of the first author. The authors are responsible for the accuracy and completeness of the references. Unpublished observations, personal communications, submitted papers not yet accepted, and abstracts should not appear in the references section.
    The reference list includes the bibliographic references in alphabetical order (by author), with the authors’ surnames and initials, the year, the full title of the article, the official abbreviation of the journal title (according to Index Medicus), the volume and the first and last page of the article. Book chapters are listed as follows: author names, year, chapter title, book title, editor (or editors), edition, publisher, town, and first and last page of the chapter.

    Exampes of references:

    Journal article

    Tangner CH, Hobson HP (1982) A retrospective study of 20 surgically managed cases of collapsed trachea. Vet Surg 11, 146-149.

    Breznock EM, Berger B, Pendray D, Wagner S, Manley P, Whitting P, Hornof W, West D (1983) Surgical manipulation of intrahepatic portocaval shunts in dogs. J Am Vet Med Assoc 182, 798-805.

    Book

    Slocum B, Slocum TD (1998) Pelvic Osteotomy. In: Current Techniques in Small Animal Surgery. Bojrab MJ ed. Williams & Wilkins, Baltimore, pp. 1159-1165.

    Proceedings

    Fitzpatrick N (2009) Hip Dysplasia - To Cut or Not to Cut. In: Proceedings of NAVC 2009, FL, USA, pp. 1055-1058.

  7. Tables
    Tables are numbered consecutively with Arabic numerals, in the order of their appearance in the text. Tables that are not mentioned in the main text should not be included. Tables should be self-contained and sufficiently self-explanatory so that they can be read and made sense independently of the main text. At the top there is their number (e.g. Table 1) and then their title in lowercase letters. If there are explanations that can help the reader understand the table content, they should appear as footnotes and be marked with superscript symbols.

  8. Figures
    Figures, graphs, diagrams, etc. are “figures”. Figures are numbered with Arabic numerals as cited in the text. Figures are submitted in jpeg or tiff file format, with a resolution of at least 300dpi. Figure legends should be provided after tables. In each legend the source of the image must be stated, unless the authors hold the copyright.

Drugs, units of measurement, and abbreviations

Drugs are referred with the name of their active ingredient and not their commercial name. The first time they appear in the text they are followed by their generic name and manufacturer in brackets (trade name or name of product, company, city and state). Dose, route and frequency of administration must be presented in brackets in the text. Units should follow the international system (SI) (e.g. mg kg-1). Any abbreviation used should be spelled out the first time appeared in the text followed by the abbreviation in brackets.

All manuscripts submitted to the journal are reviewed by a minimum of two reviewers who are experts on the field and are unaware of authors names. To ensure blind reviewing, authors should omit any details of their names or affiliations. Authors are notified of acceptance or rejection of the manuscript for publication within a reasonable period of time. In case of serious disagreement between the two reviewers, the manuscript will be sent to a third reviewer. The final decision is upon the Editor. If modifications or clarifications are required, the manuscript together with the reviewers’ comments is returned to the corresponding author. If the authors modify their paper and/or respond to the reviewers’ comments, they will have to resubmit within four weeks. Once the manuscript is accepted for publication, it is sent by the Editor to a translator, to have it translated into the second language of the journal. The authors of the paper are responsible for the final translated manuscript. The translated manuscript will be sent for approval to the corresponding author and it should be returned to the journal within a 2 week period. The two final proofs, Greek and English, are sent to the corresponding author for the final corrections. After this stage no changes are allowed in the text. Reprints are not available, but a copy of the final manuscript will be provided via email to the corresponding author (pdf file).

Updated February, 2024

 

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Hellenic Journal of
Companion Animal Medicine

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64 Louizis Riankour Street,
115 23 Athens
Tel.: +30 210 7759727
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iatrikizs@hcavs.gr

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