Acta Reumatologica Portuguesa publishes original articles, reviews, case reports, images and letters to the editor on all subjects related to Rheumatology.
Acta Reumatologica Portuguesa subscribes the requirements for the acceptance of manuscripts in biomedical journals proposed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors, published initially in N Engl J Med 1991; 324: 424-28, updated in October 2008 and available in www.ICMJE.org. The editorial policy of Acta Reumatológica Portuguesa follows the Editorial Policy Statements published by the Council of Science Editors, available in www.councilscienceeditors.org/services/ draft_approved.cfm.
The Journal is indexed on PubMed/Medline. The articles are available online with open and free access.
The articles should be written in English. Portuguese written manuscripts can also be submitted.
The accuracy of the manuscript contents as well as written opinions are of the exclusive responsibility of the author(s).
Published articles will remain property of the journal and cannot be reproduced, as a whole or as a part, without the authorization of the editor.
For accepted articles a statement signed by all authors transferring the copyright to Acta Reumatologica is mandatory and should be send by e-mail.
Authors have to disclose potential conflicts of interest. The acceptance of articles is subjected to the evaluation of the editorial board. Articles may be:
a) accepted without changes;
b) accepted after modifications suggested by the board;
c) refused.
All the comments made by the reviewers will be sent to the author.
When changes are proposed, the author should send reply letters to the editor and to each of the reviewers answering to all the raised questions. The author should also send a reviewed version of the manuscript with the changes highlighted in a different colour within 1 month.

Instructions to authors
Manuscripts not in accordance with the instructions may be sent for modification before review by the editorial board.
All manuscripts must be sent by e-mail to: helenacanhao@netcabo.pt

Manuscripts must be accompanied by a cover letter, signed by all authors, stating the name of the article, that it is an original work, that the authors held the copyright of the manuscript, that it does not represent any conflict of interest, and that they transfer the copyright to the journal (se form below).
Text should be sent in digital support by e-mail, typed double-spaced, type 12, with 1-inch margins, in Word for Windows. All pages must be sequentially numbered.
Images should be sent independently from the text in JPEG or TIFF file.

Manuscripts should be organized as explained below: Page 1
a) Title in Portuguese and in English;
b) Authors' names and affiliations;
c) Institution(s) to which the work should be attributed;
d) Source(s) of grants support;
e) Name, address and e-mail of the corresponding author
f ) Short running title.

Page 2
a) Title (without authors)
b) Abstract
Abstract in English structured as follows for the original articles: Objectives; Patients and Methods; Results; Conclusions. The abstract should not exceed 350 words for original articles and 180 words for case reports. c) Keywords
A maximum of 5 keywords – must be MeSH terms – should be presented after the abstract.

Page 3 and following pages
Original papers: The text of original papers should be presented with the following subtitles: Introduction, Objectives, Patients and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusions, Acknowledgements, References.
Original papers should not exceed 4,000 words, 6 Tables/ Figures and 60 references.
Case report: Subtitles for case reports should be: Introduction, Case report, Discussion, References.
A case report should not exceed 2,000 words and 25 references. It should present illustrative figures. The number of Tables/Figures should not exceed 6. From the second page on, all pages should have a short title on footnote.
References: References should be cited by the numerical system, superscript and listed, in the order cited in the text. Journal titles are abbreviated in accordance with the style of Index Medicus.
List all authors when 6 or less;when 7 or more list only first 3 and add “et al”. Do not abbreviate the page number (i.e. correct: 565- -569 and not: 565-9). The Journal number and the month of publication should not be presented.
References of unpublished work, presentations or personal observations should be inserted in the text (in parenthesis) and not as a “classical” or true reference.
Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the references.

Examples:
– Journal article Name(s) and initials of author(s). Article title. Journal name Year; Volume or number: Page(s).
Ex: Hill J, Bird HA, Hopkins R, Lawton C, Wright V. Survey of satisfaction with care in a rheumatology outpatient clinic: Ann Rheum Dis 1992; 51: 195-197.

– Article published Online (insert DOI ) Ex.: Peter A Merkel, David Curthbertson, Bernhard Hellmich et al. Comparison of disease activity measures for ANCA-associated vasculitis. Ann Rheum Dis Published Online First: 29 July 2008. doi:10.1136/ard.2008.
097758

– Chapter in Book
Name(s) and initials of author(s) of chapter. Chapter title. In: Name(s) and initials of editor(s). Book title. City: Name of publisher, year of publication: pages.
Ex: Stewart AF. Hypercalcemia resulting from medications.
In: Favus MD, ed Primer on the Metabolic Bone Diseases and Disorders of Mineral Metabolism. New York: Raven Press, 1991: 177-178.

– Book
Name(s) and initials of author(s). Book title. City: Name of publisher, year of publication: page(s). Ex: Lorig K. Patient Education. A practical approach. St Louis: Mosby-Year Book, 1992: 51.

– Online document
Ex:Programa Nacional de Luta Contra a Tuberculose.
Sistema de Vigilância (SVIG-TB). Direcção-Geral da Saúde - Divisão de Doenças Transmissíveis, Março de 2005 http://www.dgsaude.pt/upload/membro.id/ ficheiros/ i006875.pdf. Accessed em 25 Janeiro de 2008

Tables: Tables should be cited in the text with Roman numerals. Each table should be double typed on a separate sheet, have a title and contain no vertical rulers. Horizontal lines should be used only as separators between titles and subtitles. Explain all abbreviations at the bottom.
The number of tables should be limited as described above.

Figures: Cite each figure in the text in consecutive order using Arabic numerals. Legends should be listed at the end of the manuscript, after the references, double typed.
Send the figures in separate files to each figure in the format JPEG or TIFF.
The number of figures should be limited as described above.
Editorials: Editorials will be requested by the editor and will be comments on important issues or on articles published in the journal. Editorials should not exceed 1200 words, with a maximum of 15 references and no tables or figures.

Review articles: Review articles will be commissioned by the editor. However, authors interested in presenting a review article are welcomed to contact the editor. Review articles should not exceed 4000 words, 6 tables/ figures and 100 references.

Letters: Letters to the editor must be a comment on a journal article or a short clinical study or case report. They cannot exceed 600 words, a maximum of 10 references and one table or one figure.

Images in Rheumatology: Images of particularly interest can be submitted. They should contain a maximum of 4 figures, in JPEG or TIFF format. The accompanying text must have a maximum of 500 words.

Modifications and proofreading: Articles accepted subject to modifications, will be sent to the authors that will have 1 month to modify them according to suggestions. A letter should be written for each reviewer and the changes should be highlighted in the main manuscript with a different font color. Contributors will receive page proofs of the accepted papers for approval.

Cover Letter draft:
Send with manuscript to The Editor: helenacanhao@ netcabo.pt