Instructions to Authors

PREPARING A PAPER FOR SUBMISSION

A scientific paper represents a newly produced or adapted knowledge. The scientific text is meant to be a result of careful consideration and evaluation of all details of the report. Presentation of scientific information implies strict logic and consistency, concise and accurate expression, objective statement of facts; convincing argumentation. Clarity of expression is a priority. Scientific presentation is characterised by specific requirements for the structural and compositional form of the various genre forms (article, review, case description, abstract).

The following types of papers are accepted for publishing in English language: original articles, reviews, clinical case reports, reference papers, book reviews, short communication papers (letters to editor, etc.). The first three genres are subject to peer review (with standardized forms), while the others are subject to expert judgment by the editorial board.

The title of any scientific work, regardless of its genre, must attract attention, be understandable, concise, accurate - it presents the subject of the research. A subtitle may be formed for additional informativeness.

The abstract contains the specific features of the study – aim/subject, methodology used, main results and conclusions. It may be indexed by secondary information sources (e.g. databases, citation indexes etc.), i.e. it should provide information about the main elements of the scientific contribution. It should not contain citations and illustrative material, nor abbreviations that can be avoided. Bulgarian authors must provide a translation of the abstract in Bulgarian.

Keywords are used to thematically categorise the article in databases and to search for references accordingly. It is the author's responsibility to choose these accurately according to the most significant concepts of their work. The number of keywords is usually between 3 and 8, which may be single words or short phrases generally accepted in the particular field of knowledge.

The authors’ personal information should include, at a minimum, their first name and surname (in Latin script and, where applicable, in Bulgarian), as well as their institutional affiliation (place of work). Providing ORCID of the corresponding author is strongly recommended. Authors affiliated with the Medical University – Sofia should indicate the name of their department, faculty, and university (in this order) and provide their ORCID, if available.

ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Original research articles must entail proprietary work presented via a thoroughly described methodology. The following format is to be followed: Introduction & Purpose - Materials and methods - Results - Discussion – Findings/ Conclusion(s).

Introduction: Its main function is to answer the questions: what are the motives for conducting the study and what is its immediate purpose. Additional functions: to provide background information needed to understand the article; a brief review of similar studies by other authors; a link to similar problems; a purpose statement; an assessment of the importance of the problem.

Materials and methods. Outlines the characteristics of the groups studied, including: does the material meet the stated aim of the study; analyses the method of selection – inclusion/exclusion criteria, randomisation technique; discusses the comparability of the groups compared; explains the method used as appropriate for the stated aim, states the statistical methods, declares compliance with ethical rules.

Results. Should contain all the results and only the results. The text shall be supplemented by illustrative material - photographs, diagrams, tables. The author is expected to judge the objectivity or subjectivity of the results and whether they answer the questions posed. Avoid duplication of information (same data presented as table and figure; in text and in illustration).

Discussion. Interpret the data and its significance, discuss problems with the methods/techniques used, compare similarities and differences with other studies in the literature review, and highlight the contribution of the results to illuminating the problem posed. Controversies, unresolved issues, unwanted phenomena, unexpected results, doubts, alternative interpretations and hypotheses, statistical differences, limitations of the study are discussed. The data is summarized. The following should be avoided: unsubstantiated claims, exaggeration of the significance of data, digressive/peripheral issues, attacks on other studies and authors or their uncritical retelling, emotional appeals to the reader.

Conclusion. Summarizes the main results and draws conclusions from the study.

SCIENTIFIC REVIEW

It summarizes the contents of a number of sources dedicated to a single subject during a defined period of time. Discussion of authors and texts should be consistent with the thematic and issue relevance to the purpose of the study. It is intended to consider the experience, current status and trends of a given issue, to evaluate the material in a reasoned way, and to offer concrete, practically usable conclusions and recommendations. A logically connected, coherent exposition is expected, without mechanically retelling the sources. Subheadings are thematic.

CLINICAL CASE REPORT

Clinical Case Reports consist of Introduction, Clinical Case Description, Discussion and Conclusions. An extended review section is used to demonstrate the significance of the presented case. The telegraphic style with duplication of a case history, is unacceptable.

SHORT COMMUNICATION GENRES follow approximately the structure of an original article.

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR discuss a scientific issue, which is unsolved at the time, in a critical manner or consider other papers.

The LIST OF REFERENCES at the end of the paper should cover only those publications that have actually been cited and are necessary to outline the foundation on which the research is built. Do not offer an abundance of literature at the expense of its relevance. Minimize self-citation. Citation of Bulgarian sources is strongly recommended.

Citations of bibliographic references within the text are indicated by numbers in square brackets in the order of their appearance. The bibliography list at the end is arranged in the order of appearance of the sources within the text. Each source is listed on a new line, with an Arabic number. Sources are structured in the following manner:

• Articles: Author(s). The article title. Journal title (abbreviated), year, volume, number (issue) in round brackets, papers (from-to). Example: Yakub YN, Freedman RB, Pabico RC. Renal transplantation in systemic lupus erythematosus. Nephron, 2019, 27(1):197-201.
• Papers from а compendium / digest / collective book: Author(s). Title. In: The book title. Edition number, editors. Place of publication (city), publishing house, year of publication, pages (from-to). Example: Wilkinson AH. Evaluation of the transplant recipient. In: Handbook of Kidney Transplantation. 6th ed. G. M. Danovitch (Ed.). Boston, Little, Brown and Co., 2019, 109-122.
• Author(s). Title. Place of publication (city), publishing house, year of publication, pages (from-to). Example: Young KS. Caught in the Net: How to recognize the signs of Internet addiction and a winning strategy for recovery. New York, John Wiley & Sons 1998. 2019, 8-11.
• When citing electronic publications which are available online, a link is added to the source description along with the date it was accessed on, or a DOI number.
• When citing Bulgarian sources, after its Cyrillic writing the source should be presented also in Latin script, with the title translated in English, while the names of the authors and the journals or publishers should be transliterated. Example: Ончев Г. Личностовата абнормност в клиничната практика, 2-ро изд. София, Контекст, 2012. (Onchev G. Personality abnormality in clinical practice, 2nd ed. Sofia, Kontext, 2012.)

For publications with up to three authors, list the authors’ surnames followed by their initials (without periods). For works with more than three authors, include the first three authors followed by et al.

For translated books, specify the original language and the name of the translator.

ETHICAL NORMS IN PUBLISHING

Authors must warrant that they submit for publication their own studies and in case different author's data and/or text are used, these are specified by citations. Strict adherence to copyright issues is maintained – texts with more than 10% verbatim repetition of another publication are returned for revision.

A secondary publishing of the same science paper in a periodical is permissible only in the form of a secondary publication reflecting the data from an original publication, which is explicitly quoted. The corresponding author declares that the material has not been published previously, except in the form of an abstract for a scientific event, and has not been submitted to another journal/ publisher.

All researchers contributing to the concept and fulfillment of the scientific study should be listed as co-authors. The corresponding author must ensure that they have approved the final version of the paper as submitted for publication, and have been informed on the critical notes and recommendations for correction following peer review.

Authors assume the responsibility for the contents of their publications. Presented papers and the studies described in them should comply with the established ethical standards on performance of the clinical and/or experimental studies on human subjects (the Declaration of Helsinki) and animals used for experiments, which must be clearly stated in the manuscript. Patients must not be referred to by their names or initials, and any images through which they can be identified, must not be presented. Statements regarding informed consent from participants and patients must be provided with the manuscript, where relevant. Animal experiments require full compliance with local, national, ethical, and regulatory principles, and local licensing arrangements. Respective statements of compliance (or approvals of institutional ethical committees) should be included in the article text.

Declaring conflict of interests, or lack of such conflict as well as absence or presence of financial association of study and the institutions performing it, is obligatory.

 

STATISTICAL PROCESSING

Statistical methods must be described sufficiently so readers with access to original data can check the presented results. The results must be presented quantitatively (if possible) by appropriate indicators for the measurement of error or uncertainty (e.g., confidence intervals). Avoid using only p-values in the verification of a hypothesis since this approach does not generate sufficient quantitative information. Quoting the correct p-values in addition to the appropriate confidence intervals is desirable. The number of measurements (sample size) must be stated and the method of calculation justified. Describe the randomisation procedures, if any.The statistical programs / applications used must be described. The used statistical terms, abbreviations and symbols should be defined unambiguously.

LAYOUT AND FORMATTING

The article must start with its title (without abbreviations), the names of the authors (without academic or other titles), their workplaces designated by numeric indices, abstract and keywords.

The corresponding author must provide their contact details (e-mail, postal address, telephone number).

Approximate word count expected of submitted papers:

Type of publication	Word count in the main text	Word count in the abstract	Number of references
Original article	2500-4000	200-300	30
Review	3000-5000	100-200	50
Clinical case report	1000-3000	100-200	20
Short communication, reference paper, review	500-1000	–	10

MS Word files are acceptable. There are no specific requirements on the font size and type, spacing, margins and other formatting.

Illustrative tables, figures, images etc. are positioned at their corresponding places within the text with captions and notes. Captions of figures must not be shown within the image. Images with good quality (at least 300 dpi) and appropriate file format (.jpg, .tif, .png) are required. Tables must be presented in an editable format rather than as images.

Specific abbreviations used in the text are to be entered in brackets the first time the full name appears in the text. Measurement units should follow the SI system.

Authors must be transparent about the use of traditional and generative AI technologies such as ChatGPT and other large language models when used to create, review, revise, or edit any of the content in their manuscript. Any such use must be disclosed and a confirmation that the author(s) take responsibility for the integrity of the content generated should be reported.

There is an Article Processing Charge (APC) to support full Gold Open Access publishing. It is payable only after the manuscript has successfully completed peer review and has been formally accepted for publication. An invoice will be issued to the corresponding author, and publication will proceed once payment is confirmed. Editorial decisions are made independently of payment and are based solely on the manuscript’s scientific merit and the outcome of the peer-review process.