The following information is intended to help authors prepare articles for Virtual Mentor.

Copy Submission

Submit articles and images as e-mail attachments to the theme issue editor who solicited your contribution.

Articles are accepted with the understanding that they are not currently under consideration by another publication or electronic medium.

Authorship Forms

Authorship forms for verification of authorship, copyright, and disclosure are required. Print the forms, complete and sign them, and fax them to the Virtual Mentor AMA editor at 312-464-4799.

Biosketch

Submit a 1-2 sentence biosketch about your academic affiliations and major research interests with your article.

Editorial Review and Editing

Manuscripts are copyedited according to Virtual Mentor style which relies heavily on the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th ed. and returned to the author for approval. Authors are responsible for accuracy of all statements made in their work, including changes made by the copy editor.

Manuscript Preparation in Brief

Submit text as an e-mail attachment in Microsoft WORD or, if other than Microsoft WORD, in a “text only” file.

Text should be double-spaced throughout in 12-point Arial font.

Preferred article length is 800 to 1200 words (3 to 5 double-spaced pages). Exceptions will be considered.

Do not use abbreviations in the title and limit their use in the text.

Abbreviate degrees without space or punctuation, eg, MD, JD, PhD, EdD.

Use nonproprietary names of drugs unless the trade name of a drug is directly relevant to the discussion.

Put all notes and references at the end of the article, and DO NOT USE A COMPUTER ENDNOTE FUNCTION. Indicate endnotes in the text with a numeral in brackets. Then list the endnotes in the reference section preceded by the proper Arabic numeral followed by a period.

Use subheadings to break up lengthy articles; capitalize important words in headings and set headings in boldface.

Provide URLs for material accessed on the Internet and include the date retrieved.

Set titles of books and journals in italics; capitalize important words in book, journal, and article titles.

Assign pseudonyms to patients or others mentioned in the article or obtain written approval from them to use their names and stories in published accounts.

Do not underscore for emphasis or for titles; use italics for emphasis.

The placement of contributed articles within each issue is determined by the Virtual Mentor editorial staff.