Submissions

Author Guidelines

Key Points

• The manuscript must be written in English, or both in  English and Bulgarian.
• Articles may be rejected if not formatted as in the Template.
• Bulgarian authors are obliged to submit both English and Bulgarian version using the same Template.
• An article can have 1 corresponding author (primary contact) who handels all  editorial communication.
• Use your institutional email address in the journal metadata and the article itself and check spam on a regular basis.
• Manuscripts are submitted through the journal website (jbota.org), where they are uploaded to the editorial web platform for subsequent peer review.

What should you submit?

Submitted contributions undergo a double-blind review. In order to make this possible, please:

Submit an anonymized file without the authors' names.
Once your paper is accepted, please upload a final DOC, DOCX or RTF version with the authors' names in it. Please do not forget to add the authors directly below the paper title and in the CV section at the end of the paper.

Procedure

1. Article submission
2. Decision about acceptance for review (around 2 weeks)
3. Peer Review (around 6 weeks)
4. If accepted, a message to author is sent, upload of final version will be required
5. When final version have been received, the paper will be scheduled – provisionally – for an issue.
6. Your paper will be published

Original scientific articles include mandatorily the following separate sections: Abstract, Introduction, including the study aim, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion and Conclusion. Subsection "Limitations of the study" is added at the end of the Discussion, if necessary. Also, Acknowledgement (to persons and authorities contributing in an intellectual manner or providing a technical, material, financial support, etc.) can be added. Reviews typically include Introduction, thematic subheadings and Conclusions. Clinical Case Reports consist of Introduction, Clinical Case Description, Discussion and Conclusions. The Short Communication genres follow approximately the structure of an original article. Editorial Comments present a scientifically justified statement on a published paper, with a volume of not more than 2 standard pages, with figures, tables and a short reference list. Letters to Editor discuss a scientific issue, which is unsolved at the time, or consider other papers in a critical manner. The types of articles not subject to peer review include short unstructured abstract.

Manuscripts in Bulgarian language use the same Template and structure. Manuscripts written in Bulgarian and English are submitted in a two separate files in the following file formats:OpenOffice, Microsoft Word, or RTF document file format.

Illustrative Material

Illustrative material (tables, figures, images) is positioned at the corresponding places within the text of the manuscript file with captions and legends. Captions of figures must not be inserted in the images. Images with a good quality (at least 300 dpi) and an appropriate file format (.jpg, .tif, .png) are required. Tables must be presented in an editable format rather than images. A manuscript may include supplementary files with images or video clips associated with its contents, which must be delivered in a volume of not more than 20 МВ. For illustrations taken from international sources the source must be cited following the legend of the illustration as well as in the manuscript bibliographic reference.

Citations and References

The references should include only those that are important and have been studied in full by the authors. They should be presented using the Vancouver system by superscript numbers in the order of their appearance (^1,2,3,4,5,6) in the manuscript. Only use references, which are as up-to-date as possible, unbiased and relevant. Only use the classic, original references when needed. Otherwise, try to keep references to within the last 10 years. References should only be used from published work.

Articles: Author(s). The article title. – The journal title (abbreviated under the Index Мedicus), year, volume, issue, pages (from–to), DOI (if available). Example: Ghogawala Z, Terrin N, Dunbar MR, et al. Effect of Ventral vs Dorsal Spinal Surgery on Patient-Reported Physical Functioning in Patients With Cervical Spondylotic Myelopathy: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2021;325(10):942–951. doi:10.1001/jama.2021.1233

Book:Author(s). Title. Place of publication (city), publishing house, year of publication, pages (from–to), and DOI (if available).Example: Watson-Jones R. Fractures and joint injuries. Vol. 2. Fourth ed. Edinburgh: Churchill Livingstone, 1955:744-5.

Chapter in a Book: Author(s). Title. – In: The edited book title. Edition number, editors. Place of publication (city), publishing house, year of publication, pages (from–to), and DOI (if available). Exapmle: Winquist RA, Frankel VH. Complications of implant use. In: Epps CH Jr, ed. Complications in orthopaedic surgery. Vol. 1. Philadelphia: JB Lippincott Company, 1978:99-129.

Web Reference: No authors listed. Example: International commission on radiological protection. http://www.icrp.org (date last accessed 20 September 2009).

Citing References from The Journal of the Bulgarian Orthopaedics and Trauma Association (JBOTA) is highly recommended.