Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine

1. Open Access
2. What do we publish?
2.1 Aims & scope
2.2 Article types
2.3 Writing your paper
2.3.1 Making your article discoverable
3. Editorial policies
3.1 Peer review policy
3.2 Authorship
3.3 Acknowledgements
3.3.1 Writing assistance
3.4 Funding
3.5 Declaration of conflicting interests
3.6 Research ethics and patient consent
3.7 Clinical trials
3.8 Reporting guidelines
3.9 Data
4. Publishing policies
4.1 Publication ethics
4.1.1 Plagiarism
4.1.2 Prior publication
4.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement
5. Preparing your manuscript
5.1 Formatting
5.2 Manuscript layout
5.3 Artwork, figures and other graphics
5.4 Supplementary material
5.5 Reference style
5.6 English language editing services
6. Submitting your manuscript
6.1 How to submit your manuscript
6.2 Title, keywords and abstracts
6.3 Information required for completing your submission
6.4 ORCID
6.5 Permissions
7. On acceptance and publication
7.1 Sage Production
7.2 Online publication
7.3 Promoting your article
8. Further information

Submitting authors: please read the information provided here in the Manuscript Submission Guidelines before submitting a manuscript to Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine using the submission site here.

This Journal recommends that authors follow the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals formulated by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE).

Please read the guidelines below then visit the journal’s submission site https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/hkjem to upload your manuscript. Please note that manuscripts not conforming to these guidelines may be returned. Remember you can log in to the submission site at any time to check on the progress of your paper through the peer review process.

Only manuscripts of sufficient quality that meet the aims and scope of Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine will be reviewed.

As part of the submission process you will be required to warrant that you are submitting your original work, that you have the rights in the work, that you are submitting the work for first publication in the Journal and that it is not being considered for publication elsewhere and has not already been published elsewhere, and that you have obtained and can supply all necessary permissions for the reproduction of any copyright works not owned by you.

Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics. 

If you have any questions about publishing with Sage, please visit the Sage Journal Solutions Portal

1. Open Access

Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine is an open access, peer-reviewed journal. Each article accepted by peer review is made freely available online immediately upon publication, is published under a Creative Commons license and will be hosted online in perpetuity. This journal is financially supported by the Hong Kong College of Emergency Medicine and the Hong Kong Society for Emergency Medicine and Surgery and therefore does not charge an article processing charge for open access publication.

For general information on open access at Sage please visit the Open Access page or view our Open Access FAQs.

2. What do we publish?

2.1 Aims & scope

Before submitting your manuscript to Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine, please ensure you have read the Aims & Scope.

2.2 Article types

Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine publishes original research articles, featured articles, review articles, short reports and clinical quizzes related to all aspects of clinical practice in the emergency department and pre-hospital settings, as well as basic scientific research relevant to emergency medicine.

All submissions to Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine should include a statement confirming explicitly that the submission meets each of the below criteria. If the submission does not comply with each of the ethical requirements it is insufficient to simply write ‘not applicable’ or ‘n/a’. In this case of a statement being not applicable, the Editors expect to see the details of the Ethics Committee or Review Board that waived approval, including names and institutions of the relevant committee or a brief explanation. Non-compliant submissions will be returned.

Mandatory statements for all submissions:

• Acknowledgements (see clause 3.3)
• Authorship (clause 3.2)
• Funding (see clause 3.4)
• Availability of data and materials (see clause 3.9)
• Conflict of interest (see clause 3.5)
• Informed consent (see clause 3.6)
• Ethical approval (see clause 3.6)
• Human rights (see clause 3.6).

Editorials

Editorials are invited articles that either address an important topic that has implications on the practice of emergency medicine or complement a paper published by the Journal. They should not exceed 1500 words with not more than 25 references.

It is a requirement of submission that the following statements are included in the manuscript: Acknowledgements (see clause 3.3), Authorship (see clause 3.2), Funding (see clause 3.4), Availability of data and materials (see clause 3.9), Conflict of interest (see clause 3.5), Informed consent (see clause 3.6), Ethical approval (see clause 3.6), Human rights (see clause 3.6).

 

Original research articles

The original study should be in an area relevant to the practice of emergency medicine. The contents of the manuscript should include an introduction, methods, results, discussion and conclusion. A structured abstract (background, objectives, methods, results and conclusions) is also required. Main text, excluding abstract, tables, acknowledgement and references, should not be more than 4000 words.

Tables and/or figures should not be more than 6. References should not be more than 30.

It is a requirement of submission that the following statements are included: Acknowledgements (see clause 3.3), Authorship (see clause 3.2), Funding (see clause 3.4), Availability of data and materials (see clause 3.9), Conflict of interest (see clause 3.5), Informed consent (see clause 3.6), Ethical approval (see clause 3.6), Human rights (see clause 3.6).

 

Featured articles

These are articles by invitation. They address a specific topic, issue or question relevant to the practice of emergency medicine. Maximum word count is 5000 words. Tables and/or figures should not be more than 6. References should not be more than 40.

It is a requirement of submission that the following statements are included: Acknowledgements (see clause 3.3), Authorship (see clause 3.2), Funding (see clause 3.4), Availability of data and materials (see clause 3.9), Conflict of interest (see clause 3.5), Informed consent (see clause 3.6), Ethical approval (see clause 3.6), Human rights (see clause 3.6).

 

Review articles

These are articles usually by invitation. HKJEM will also consider unsolicited reviews that address an important topic, issue or question relevant to the practice of emergency medicine, and are of good quality. The review should summarize the current evidence specific to the topic, issue and question addressed.

A structured abstract is required (background, objectives, methods, results and conclusion).

Maximum word count is 5000 words. Tables and/or figures should not be more than 6. References should not be more than 50.

It is a requirement of submission that the following statements are included: Acknowledgements (see clause 3.3), Authorship (see clause 3.2), Funding (see clause 3.4), Availability of data and materials (see clause 3.9), Conflict of interest (see clause 3.5), Informed consent (see clause 3.6), Ethical approval (see clause 3.6), Human rights (see clause 3.6).

 

Short reports

These are original studies with preliminary results or small sample size necessitating further research. The contents of the manuscript should include an introduction, methods, results, discussion and conclusion. Main text, excluding abstract, tables, acknowledgement and references, should not be more than 2000 words. Tables and/or figures should not be more than 3. References should not be more than 15.

It is a requirement of submission that the following statements are included: Acknowledgements (see clause 3.3), Authorship (see clause 3.2), Funding (see clause 3.4), Availability of data and materials (see clause 3.9), Conflict of interest (see clause 3.5), Informed consent (see clause 3.6), Ethical approval (see clause 3.6), Human rights (see clause 3.6).

 

Pictorial quizzes

Pictorial quizzes should begin with a concise description of the patient with an interesting presentation and pictorial images (imaging findings, ECG or other related clinical materials). 3-5 clinical questions about the patient should be provided.

The answers to the questions should be discussed in a separate paragraph. Maximum word counts 1000. References should not be more than 5.

It is a requirement of submission that the following statements are included: Acknowledgements (see clause 3.3), Authorship (see clause 3.2), Funding (see clause 3.4), Availability of data and materials (see clause 3.9), Conflict of interest (see clause 3.5), Informed consent (see clause 3.6), Ethical approval (see clause 3.6), Human rights (see clause 3.6). Submissions without the above statements will be returned and cannot be further processed.

Letter to the Editor

Letters related to manuscripts published in the HKJEM can be submitted within 8 weeks of publication. Opinions, comments, global emergency medicine highlights or very brief reports related to emergency medicine practice can be submitted. Maximum word counts 500. References should not be more than 5.

It is a requirement of submission that the following statements are included: Acknowledgements (see clause 3.3), Authorship (see clause 3.2), Funding (see clause 3.4), Availability of data and materials (see clause 3.9), Conflict of interest (see clause 3.5), Informed consent (see clause 3.6), Ethical approval (see clause 3.6), Human rights (see clause 3.6). Submissions without the above statements will be returned and cannot be further processed.

 

2.3 Writing your paper

The Sage Author Gateway has some general advice and on how to get published, plus links to further resources.

2.3.1 Making your article discoverable

When writing up your paper, think about how you can make it discoverable. The title, keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article through search engines such as Google. For information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords, have a look at this page on the Gateway: How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online

3. Editorial policies

3.1 Peer review policy

Following an initial screen by our Senior Editors based on the relevance, novelty and quality of the manuscript, full length articles (original research articles, featured articles, and review articles) and selected short articles are sent for peer review. A covering letter that clearly states the relevance and importance of the research to the practice of emergency medicine would certainly help our Senior Editors in making decision for peer review.

Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine (HKJEM) utilizes a double-anonymize peer review process in which the reviewer and author’s names and information are withheld from the other. All manuscripts are reviewed as rapidly as possible, while maintaining rigor. Reviewers make comments to the author and recommendations to the Editor-in-Chief who then makes the final decision.

The Editor or members of the Editorial Board may occasionally submit their own manuscripts for possible publication in the journal. In these cases, the peer review process will be handled by alternative members of the Editorial Board and the submitting Editor / Board member will have no involvement in the decision-making process.

3.2 Authorship

Papers should only be submitted for consideration once consent is given by all contributing authors. Those submitting papers should carefully check that all those whose work contributed to the paper are acknowledged as contributing authors.

The list of authors should include all those who can legitimately claim authorship. This is all those who:

(i) Made a substantial contribution to the concept or design of the work; or acquisition, analysis or interpretation of data,

(ii) Drafted the article or revised it critically for important intellectual content,

(iii) Approved the version to be published,

(iv) Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content.

Authors should meet the conditions of all of the points above. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for appropriate portions of the content. When a large, multicentre group has conducted the work, the group should identify the individuals who accept direct responsibility for the manuscript. These individuals should fully meet the criteria for authorship.

Acquisition of funding, collection of data, or general supervision of the research group alone does not constitute authorship, although all contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in the Acknowledgments section. Please refer to the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) authorship guidelines for more information on authorship.

Please note that AI chatbots, for example ChatGPT, should not be listed as authors. For more information see the policy on Use of ChatGPT and generative AI tools.

3.3 Acknowledgements

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support.

3.3.1 Third party submissions
Where an individual who is not listed as an author submits a manuscript on behalf of the author(s), a statement must be included in the Acknowledgements section of the manuscript and in the accompanying cover letter. The statements must:

• Disclose this type of editorial assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input
• Identify any entities that paid for this assistance
• Confirm that the listed authors have authorized the submission of their manuscript via third party and approved any statements or declarations, e.g. conflicting interests, funding, etc.

Where appropriate, Sage reserves the right to deny consideration to manuscripts submitted by a third party rather than by the authors themselves.

3.3.2 Writing assistance

Individuals who provided writing assistance, e.g. from a specialist communications company, do not qualify as authors and so should be included in the Acknowledgements section. Authors must disclose any writing assistance – including the individual’s name, company and level of input – and identify the entity that paid for this assistance.

It is not necessary to disclose use of language polishing services.

Please supply any personal acknowledgements separately to the main text to facilitate anonymous peer review.

3.4 Funding

Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine requires all authors to acknowledge their funding in a consistent fashion under a separate heading. Please visit the Funding Acknowledgements page on the Sage Journal Author Gateway to confirm the format of the acknowledgment text in the event of funding, or state that: This research received no specific grant from any funding agency in the public, commercial, or not-for-profit sectors.

3.5 Declaration of conflicting interests

It is the policy of Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine to require a declaration of conflicting interests from all authors enabling a statement to be carried within the paginated pages of all published articles.

Please ensure that a ‘Declaration of Conflicting Interests’ statement is included at the end of your manuscript, after any acknowledgements and prior to the references. If no conflict exists, please state that ‘The Author(s) declare(s) that there is no conflict of interest’.

For guidance on conflict of interest statements, please see the ICMJE recommendations.

3.6 Research ethics and patient consent

 

Manuscripts reporting data from research conducted on humans must include a statement of assurance after the conclusion conforming to all four of the below points:

1. The study was approved by the ethical review board
2. Name and date approval granted by the ethical board are included in the manuscript
3. Written or verbal informed consent was obtained from each patient included in the study
4. The study protocol conforms to the ethical guidelines of the 1975 Declaration of Helsinki as reflected in a priori approval by the institution's human research committee

Medical research involving human subjects must be conducted according to the World Medical Association Declaration of Helsinki.

Submitted manuscripts should conform to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals, and all papers reporting animal and/or human studies must state in the methods section that the relevant Ethics Committee or Institutional Review Board provided (or waived) approval. Please ensure that you have provided the full name and institution of the review committee, in addition to the approval number.

For research articles, authors are also required to state in the methods section whether participants provided informed consent and whether the consent was written or verbal.

Information on informed consent must be included in the manuscript text. A statement is required to state whether a written informed consent has been obtained from the patient(s) or a legally authorized representative. If a waiver for informed consent has been applied for the study, the reason must be stated in the manuscript.

Patients’ privacy should not be infringed without informed consent. Identifying information, including patients' names, initials, or hospital numbers, should not be included in any written descriptions, photographs, and pedigrees unless the information is essential for scientific purposes and the patient (or parent or guardian) gives written informed consent for publication. Informed consent for this purpose requires that a patient who is identifiable be shown the manuscript prior to submission.

Sometimes, complete anonymity is difficult to achieve. For instance, masking the eye region in photographs of patients is inadequate in achieving anonymity. If there is any doubt, a written informed consent should be obtained. If the identifying characteristics are altered to protect anonymity, such as in genetic pedigrees, authors should provide assurance that alterations do not distort scientific meaning and inform the Editors.

Manuscripts with patient identifiable information shall be subject to additional scrutiny. Not only should submissions be accompanied by a statement of consent, but the Editor also expects to be informed about the measures that have been taken to anonymise the details that could have led to parties being identified. He also reserves the right to work with the authors to make additional anonymising changes as they or the reviewers see fit. The Editor may also ask authors to remove personal information that, whilst interesting and colourful, does not add to the substance of an article, but does increase the likelihood of parties being identified. The exception to this will be where the patient has indicated in writing that she/he wants to be identified, has read the material, has discussed the consequences of being identified, and has agreed to the disclosure of all the personal information contained in the article.

Please also refer to the ICMJE Recommendations for the Protection of Research Participants

All research involving animals submitted for publication must be approved by an ethics committee with oversight of the facility in which the studies were conducted. The Journal has adopted the ARRIVE guidelines.

 

3.7 Clinical trials

Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine endorses the ICMJE requirement that clinical trials are registered in a WHO-approved public trials registry at or before the time of first patient enrolment. However, consistent with the AllTrials campaign, retrospectively registered trials will be considered if the justification for late registration is acceptable. The trial registry name and URL, and registration number must be included at the end of the abstract.

 

3.8 Reporting guidelines

The relevant EQUATOR Network reporting guidelines should be followed depending on the type of study. For example, all randomized controlled trials submitted for publication should include a completed CONSORT flow chart as a cited figure and the completed CONSORT checklist should be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses should include the completed PRISMA flow chart as a cited figure and the completed PRISMA checklist should be uploaded with your submission as a supplementary file. The EQUATOR wizard can help you identify the appropriate guideline.

Other resources can be found at NLM’s Research Reporting Guidelines and Initiatives.

3.9 Data

Sage acknowledges the importance of research data availability as an integral part of the research and verification process for academic journal articles.

Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine (HKJEM) encourages authors to submit primary data used in their research articles as supplementary files, or to provide information on how the data can be obtained. This information should include links to third-party data repositories or detailed contact information for third-party data sources. Data available only on an author-maintained website will need to be loaded onto either the journal’s platform or a third-party platform to ensure continued accessibility. Examples of data types include but are not limited to statistical data files, replication code, text files, audio files, images, videos, appendices, and additional charts and graphs necessary to understand the original research. The Editor may consider limited embargoes on proprietary data upon authors’ request. If these data cannot be legally or ethically released, authors should state this in the Data Availability Section under Declarations.  All data submitted should comply with the relevant institutional review board or research ethics committee requirements and prevailing local government regulations. For further information, please contact the Editorial Office at enquiry@hkjem.com

4. Publishing policies

4.1 Publication ethics

Sage is committed to upholding the integrity of the academic record. We encourage authors to refer to the Committee on Publication Ethics’ International Standards for Authors and view the Publication Ethics page on the Sage Author Gateway.

4.1.1 Declarations

**Please note that all manuscripts should be accompanied by a separate document entitled 'Declarations'

Please read the Declarations guidelines for authors, available here carefully before submitting your Declarations document.

This should be submitted under the file designation ‘Declarations’. This must include each of the below headings with the corresponding information. Please note that manuscripts which do not include these Declarations will be returned. These headings will be published at the end of every accepted manuscript, where one of these headings is not applicable please indicate as such under the heading.

DECLARATIONS:

1. Conflicting interests

2. Funding

3. Informed consent

4. Ethical approval

5. Author contributions

6. Acknowledgements

7. Availability of data

Example of a completed Declarations document:

DECLARATIONS:

Conflicting interests: MS is an employee of XXX. BF has received grants from XXX.

Funding: This work was supported by the Medical Research Council [grant number XXX] Informed consent: Written informed consent was obtained from the patient(s) for their anonymized information to be published in this article.

Ethical approval: Ethical approval for this study was obtained from *NAME OF ETHICS COMMITTEE OR INSTITUTIONAL REVIEW BOARD (APPROVAL NUMBER/ID)*.

Author contributions: BF and NP researched literature and conceived the study. MS was involved in protocol development, gaining ethical approval, patient recruitment and data analysis. BF wrote the first draft of the manuscript. All authors reviewed and edited the manuscript and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Acknowledgements: We would like to thank XXX XXXX for his assistance and guidance in this research.

Availability of data: The datasets generated and/or analysed during the current study are available from [e.g. repository or corresponding author].

Please read the following information carefully for additional information regarding these declarations.

 

4.1.2 Plagiarism

Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine and Sage take issues of copyright infringement, plagiarism or other breaches of best practice in publication very seriously. We seek to protect the rights of our authors and we always investigate claims of plagiarism or misuse of published articles. Equally, we seek to protect the reputation of the journal against malpractice. Submitted articles may be checked with duplication-checking software. Where an article, for example, is found to have plagiarized other work or included third-party copyright material without permission or with insufficient acknowledgement, or where the authorship of the article is contested, we reserve the right to take action including, but not limited to: publishing an erratum or corrigendum (correction); retracting the article; taking up the matter with the head of department or dean of the author's institution and/or relevant academic bodies or societies; or taking appropriate legal action.

4.1.3 Prior publication

If material has been previously published, it is not generally acceptable for publication in a Sage journal. However, there are certain circumstances where previously published material can be considered for publication. Please refer to the guidance on the Sage Author Gateway or if in doubt, contact the Editor at the address given below.

4.2 Contributor’s publishing agreement

Before publication Sage requires the author as the rights holder to sign a Journal Contributor’s Publishing Agreement. Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine publishes manuscripts under Creative Commons licenses. The standard license for the journal is Creative Commons by Attribution Non-Commercial (CC BY-NC), which allows others to re-use the work without permission as long as the work is properly referenced and the use is non-commercial. For more information, you are advised to visit Sage's OA licenses page

Alternative license arrangements are available, for example, to meet particular funder mandates, made at the author’s request.

5. Preparing your manuscript

5.1 Formatting

The preferred format for your manuscript is Word. LaTeX files are also accepted. Word and (La)Tex templates are available on the Manuscript Submission Guidelines page of our Author Gateway.

Number all pages in the following sequence, beginning with the title page as 1, as: -

1. Title page;

2. Abstract;

3. Text;

4. Acknowledgements;

5. References;

6. Tables and legends;

7. Figures and legends; and

8. Appendix.

Type all matter on A4 size paper (212 x 297 mm), double-spaced and on one side only. Leave 25 mm margins on all sides of the page. The right hand margin of the text should not be justified.

5.2 Manuscript layout

 

The manuscripts should be arranged as follows, with each section beginning on a separate page:

Cover letter

All manuscripts should be accompanied by a cover letter. The cover letter should be signed by the corresponding author and include:

1. Information on prior publication or submission elsewhere of any part of the work;
2. A statement that the manuscript has been read and approved by all authors;
3. Disclosure of all financial support and potential conflicts of interests; and
4. Any additional information that may be helpful to the Editorial Board.

 

Title page

The title page should include, in the following order: -

1. The title of the article (do not use abbreviations);
2. A short running title of not more than 50 characters (including spaces);
3. Full names of authors (underline family names and provide Chinese names, if available);
4. A maximum of three qualifications for each author;
5. Position of authors and names of departments and institutions to which they are attached, including complete postal addresses; and
6. Name, address, email address, telephone and fax numbers of the author for correspondence.
    

Abstract

 

A summary of the paper must be in the form of a structured abstract (maximum of 250 words for original articles and reviews, and 150 words for short reports) using the following format: Introduction, Methods, Results and Conclusions. An abstract is not required for pictorial quiz.

 

Key words

Select up to a maximum of five keywords that do not duplicate words in the title, in alphabetical order. Keywords should be taken from the US National Library of Medicine's Subject Headings (MeSH) browser list. If suitable MeSH terms are not yet available for recently introduced terms, present terms may be used. Do not abbreviate Keywords.

 

Main text 

Original articles should normally not exceed 15 typewritten pages including tables, illustrations and references unless absolutely necessary. It should be divided into the following sections: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. Cite in numerical order every reference, figure and table. The order of mention in the text determines the number given to each.

 

Statistical methods

Any statistical method used should be detailed in the methodology section of the paper and any not in common use should be described in detail and supported by reference. Units of measurement System International (SI) units should be used for measurements.
 

Drug names

In general, generic names should be used. Brand names may be inserted in parenthesis.
 

Abbreviations

Abbreviations may be used and should be defined in the Abstract and on first mention in the text. In general, a term should not be abbreviated unless it is used repeatedly. Avoid abbreviations in the title.

Acknowledgements

All contributors who do not meet the criteria for authorship should be listed in an Acknowledgements section. Examples of those who might be acknowledged include a person who provided purely technical help, or a department chair who provided only general support. Please see Clause 3.2 Authorship for more information on this.

Declarations

It is a requirement of submission that all manuscripts contain full declarations. For the requirements of individual article types please read Clause 2.2. Article Types. Where a statement is not relevant, the reason why it is not applicable must be stated explicitly.

 

5.3 Artwork, figures and other graphics

 

Tables

Tables should be included on a separate page, numbered with Arabic numerals and accompanied by short titles at the top. Each table must be referred to in the text in consecutive order. Data presented should, in general, not be duplicated in the text or figures. Explanatory matter should be placed in footnotes below the table and not included in the title. All non-standard abbreviations should also be explained in the footnotes. Footnotes should be indicated by *, †, ‡, §. Vertical rules and horizontal rules between entries should be omitted.

Figure legends

All illustrations are classified as figures and should be numbered with Arabic numerals in the order in which they are referred to in the text. When symbols, arrows and numbers or letters are used to identify parts of illustrations, each one should be identified and explained in the legend.

Figures

Line drawings and graphs should be professionally drawn. All lettering should be done professionally and should be of adequate size to retain clarity after reduction. Photographs must be sharp, glossy black and white prints. Photomicrographs should have internal scale markers. For radiographs, if submission of photographic prints is not possible, please enclose one copy of each of the radiographs. Please note that original material will not be returned to the author unless a specific request is made in the covering letter. Indicate the top end by use of an arrow at the back of the print. Patients shown in photographs should have their identity concealed (cropped sufficiently or eye bar used) or should have given written consent for publication.

The size of photographs and drawings should not exceed 280 mm x 400 mm. Identify and number in Arabic figures in the order of which they are mentioned in the text. Titles and detailed explanations should be confined to legends and not included in the illustrations.

Alternatively, the illustrations may be submitted in high-resolution electronic files.

For further guidance on the preparation of illustrations, pictures and graphs in electronic format, please visit Sage’s Manuscript Submission Guidelines.

5.4 Supplementary material

This journal is able to host additional materials online (e.g. datasets, podcasts, videos, images etc) alongside the full-text of the article. These will be subjected to peer-review alongside the article. For more information please refer to our guidelines on submitting supplementary files, which can be found within our Manuscript Submission Guidelines page.

 

5.5 Reference style

Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine adheres to the Sage Vancouver reference style. Please review the guidelines on Sage Vancouver to ensure your manuscript conforms to this reference style.

Provide a list of references after the main text. Place individual reference numbers immediately after the text in Arabic numerals in superscript. Number the references in the order of which they are mentioned in text in Vancouver style. References cited only in tables or in legends to figures should be numbered in accordance with a sequence established by the first identification in the text of the particular table or illustration. Cite unpublished data and personal communications in the text only. In the reference list, abbreviate the titles of journals according to MEDLINE.

If the journal is not indexed, the title should be written in full. List the first six authors of each reference, followed by et al when there are more than six. Cite also the issue number, if available.

 

5.6 English language editing services

Authors seeking assistance with English language editing, translation, or figure and manuscript formatting to fit the journal’s specifications should consider using Sage Language Services. Visit Sage Language Services on our Journal Author Gateway for further information.

6. Submitting your manuscript

6.1 How to submit your manuscript

Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine is hosted on Sage Track, a web based online submission and peer review system powered by ScholarOne™ Manuscripts. Visit https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/hkjem to login and submit your article online.

IMPORTANT: Please check whether you already have an account in the system before trying to create a new one. If you have reviewed or authored for the journal in the past year it is likely that you will have had an account created. For further guidance on submitting your manuscript online please visit ScholarOne Online Help.

 

6.2 Title, keywords and abstracts

Please supply a title, short title, an abstract and keywords to accompany your article. The title, keywords and abstract are key to ensuring readers find your article online through online search engines such as Google. Please refer to the information and guidance on how best to title your article, write your abstract and select your keywords by visiting the Sage Journal Author Gateway for guidelines on How to Help Readers Find Your Article Online.

 

6.3 Information required for completing your submission

Provide full contact details for the corresponding author including email, mailing address and telephone numbers. Academic affiliations are required for all co-authors. These details should be presented separately to the main text of the article to facilitate anonymous peer review.

You will be asked to provide contact details and academic affiliations for all co-authors via the submission system and identify who is to be the corresponding author. These details must match what appears on your manuscript. At this stage please ensure you have included all the required statements and declarations and uploaded any additional supplementary files (including reporting guidelines where relevant).

 

6.4 ORCID

As part of our commitment to ensuring an ethical, transparent and fair peer review process Sage is a supporting member of ORCID, the Open Researcher and Contributor ID. ORCID provides a unique and persistent digital identifier that distinguishes researchers from every other researcher, even those who share the same name, and, through integration in key research workflows such as manuscript and grant submission, supports automated linkages between researchers and their professional activities, ensuring that their work is recognized.

The collection of ORCID iDs from corresponding authors is now part of the submission process of this journal. If you already have an ORCID iD you will be asked to associate that to your submission during the online submission process. We also strongly encourage all co-authors to link their ORCID ID to their accounts in our online peer review platforms. It takes seconds to do: click the link when prompted, sign into your ORCID account and our systems are automatically updated. Your ORCID iD will become part of your accepted publication’s metadata, making your work attributable to you and only you. Your ORCID iD is published with your article so that fellow researchers reading your work can link to your ORCID profile and from there link to your other publications.

If you do not already have an ORCID iD please follow this link to create one or visit our ORCID homepage to learn more.

 

6.5 Permissions

Authors are responsible for obtaining permission from copyright holders for reproducing any illustrations, tables, figures or lengthy quotations previously published elsewhere. For further information including guidance on fair dealing for criticism and review, please visit our Frequently Asked Questions on the Sage Journal Author Gateway.

7. On acceptance and publication

If your paper is accepted for publication after peer review, you will first be asked to complete the contributor’s publishing agreement. Once your manuscript files have been check for Sage Production, your article will be prepared for publication and can appear online within an average of 30 days.

 

7.1 Sage Production

Your Sage Production Editor will keep you informed as to your article’s progress throughout the production process. Proofs will be sent by PDF to the corresponding author and should be returned promptly. Authors are reminded to check their proofs carefully to confirm that all author information, including names, affiliations, sequence and contact details are correct, and that Funding and Conflict of Interest statements, if any, are accurate.

 

7.2 Online publication

One of the many benefits of publishing your research in an open access journal is the speed to publication. With no constraints on page count, your article will be published online in a fully citable form with a DOI number as soon as it has completed the production process. At this time it will be completely free to view and download for all readers.

Once published online, it is the policy of HKJEM that the order of publication in the print edition will be decided by the Editor and the Editorial Board. Authors cannot suggest or request the timing of their articles in the print edition.

 

7.3 Promoting your article

Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible. The Sage Author Gateway has numerous resources to help you promote your work. Visit the Promote Your Article page on the Gateway for tips and advice.

 

Connect with us on social media and help us to promote your work.

https://www.facebook.com/HKJEM

8. Further information

Any correspondence, queries or additional requests for information on the Manuscript Submission process should be sent to the Hong Kong Journal of Emergency Medicine editorial office as follows:

enquiry@hkjem.com