Submissions

This journal is not accepting submissions at this time.

Submission Preparation Checklist

As part of the submission process, authors are required to check off their submission's compliance with all of the following items, and submissions may be returned to authors that do not adhere to these guidelines.
  • NOTE: PAYMENT OF APC: Upon acceptance of the manuscript, the author(s) agrees to pay the publication fee (Article Processing Charge, APC).
  • If I, as the corresponding author, am affiliated with any of the listed institutions making this submission eligible for central payment of the publishing costs through the Bibsam agreement:
    - I will indicate this in the field “Bibsam eligibility information / Comments for the Editor” below
    - I will use my institutional domain email in my submission, and for the subsequent publication in the event that the submission is accepted.
  • As the submitting author, I warrant that I am authorized by all co-authors to submit this version of the manuscript and to be their spokesperson during the review process and beyond.
  • The authors warrant that the submission – or a very similar version - has not been previously published, nor is under consideration for another journal.
  • The authors warrant that the submitted manuscript is original, and neither it nor any illustration or supplementary material, or any part thereof, are in any way in violation of any existing original or derivative copyright.
  • The authors have cleary stated any potential conflicts of interest in the manuscript.
  • The authors hereby confirm that they agree with UN’s Declaration of Human Rights (https://www.un.org/en/about-us/universal-declaration-of-human-rights).
  • The authors warrant that the submission consists of only one complete Microsoft Word document including the entire manuscript and all figures/tables/illustrations (placed at the end of the paper, after the references). The text is 1.5-spaced; uses 12-point font (Times New Roman); and employs italics, rather than underlining.
  • In addition to the complete file above, figures are also submitted in separate, high-resolution files in JPG-, TIFF- or PDF-formats. Related images are to be submitted as one collage per figure. All supplemental material should also be submitted in one separate document.
  • The authors warrant that the complete manuscript adheres to the requirements outlined in the Author Guidelines, and where available, URLs for the references have been provided.
  • A native English-speaking medical professional has written OR thoroughly edited the text. The authors are aware that any extensive language editing required after acceptance of the article might incur an extra fee.

Author Guidelines

Preparing for submission in Acta Dermato-Venereologica

Interested in submitting to this journal? We recommend that you review information regarding:

Please note that:

  • Submitting authors need to register with ORCiD prior to submitting.
  • Submission of a manuscript is held to imply that it has not previously been published and is not otherwise submitted for publication (except as an abstract, which in that case has to be stated).

Manuscript checklists

  • For observational studies, please follow the STROBE statement and submit a completed STROBE checklist as supporting information.
  • For randomized controlledtrials, please follow the CONSORT statement and submit a completed CONSORT checklist as supporting information.
  • For systematic reviews, please follow the PRISMA statement and submit a PRISMA checklist as supporting information.
  • For prediction investigations, please follow the TRIPOD guidelines and submit a TRIPOD checklist as supporting information.

Submission Instructions

General

Submission of a manuscript should be accompanied by a cover letter that briefly explains the impact and novelty of the manuscript. Additional materials may be provided as supplementary materials. 

A complete submission should contain:

  1. Cover letter
  2. Metadata/information regarding the manuscript
  3. Manuscript (complete with Tables and Figures)
  4. Figures (stating the figure number) in separate EPS, JPEG or TIFF.
  5. Supplemental material

Cover Letter

  • The cover letter should explicitly certify that the manuscript is not under consideration elsewhere and that no part of the work has been published elsewhere.
  • If the manuscript is an invited manuscript or is linked to a symposia collection this should be highlighted.
  • Author(s) may suggest up to five potential and impartial reviewers though reviewer selection is the responsibility of the journal’s editors.

Metadata/Information Regarding the Manuscript

In connection with the submission of a manuscript, you are asked to provide some metadata/information in the publication system, such as information regarding all authors, keywords and supporting agencies. This is important in order to get correct information to PubMed, when/if the article is accepted.

Manuscript

The manuscript file should be divided into sections:

A. Title page
B. Abstract
C. Significance
D. Introduction
E. Materials and methods
F. Results
G. Discussion
H. Acknowledgements
I. Data availability statement
J. Ethics declarations & trial registry information
K. Disclosure statements
L. References
M. Tables
N. Figures/illustrations

A. Title page

  • The title should be informative, reflecting the content of the study and should preferably be expressive.
  • Please include a word count of the abstract.
  • Please include a significance word count.
  • Please include a word count of your manuscript on the title page, excluding word count associated with tables, references, figures, and all information held on the title page.
  • Please include 3 -6 keywords, using the following link: Home - MeSH - NCBI)]
  • Please include information regarding all authors, with the following information:
    • Authors should be listed with first name, middle initial(s), and last name with department affiliations.
    • Please also add ORCID identifiers.
    • A complete postal address to the corresponding author(s), with an institutional e-mail address, should be provided.
    • Shared authorship of a maximum of two authors is allowed. 

B. Abstract

  • Abstracts should be provided for original articles and review articles.
  • The abstract should not exceed 200 words.
  • It should state the reason that prompted the study, purpose, methods, the most important findings and as a conclusion the single most important finding.
  • Abstracts should be unstructured (i.e., written with no headlines).

C. Significance

  • Include a significance of a maximum of 100 words.
  • It should be easily read and understood also by non-scientific readers.
  • Please avoid medical and statistical terms and try to explain your work to your “neighbour”.
  • Emphasize the relevance of your work, how it will contribute to existing research and also how it will benefit society.

D. Introduction

  • The introduction should focus on the state of knowledge at the beginning of the study and should define the research gap.
  • The aims and main hypothesis of the study should be stated clearly.

E. Materials and methods

  • Study type should be defined with reference to the relevant EQUATOR
  • The manuscript should be formatted accordingly and as a minimum, the relevant EQUATOR guideline checklist should be provided as supplementary information.
  • Statistics should provide relevant information on software and analytical procedures and should whenever relevant refer to a data management plan.
  • This section should as far as possible be in the form of references to previous reports.

F. Results

  • Results should be structured into a logical flow.
  • Results should be presented either in the running text or in Tables and/or Figures without repeating all data.
  • Text and figures/tables should be complementary and not overlapping.
  • Measures of variability should be provided and a limited number of decimals should be provided.

G. Discussion

  • The discussion should not start with a long introduction but more directly discuss the meaning of the results in relation to previous studies; any limitations of the study should be highlighted.
  • The discussion should critically discuss the findings, including data quality, and analytical limitations and should put the findings into perspective with reference to relevant literature.
  • A section on strengths and limitations should be provided and the final section should present a study interpretation (Conclusion).

H. Acknowledgements

  • Authors are responsible for recognising and disclosing financial and other conflicts of interest that might bias their work.
  • Relevant funding should be reported and technical support may be acknowledged.
  • Please include agency grants:“ This work was supported by the [Funding Agency], [grant number].”

I. Data availability statement

  • Authors are required to provide a data availability statement that provides information on where data used for the paper can be found and how it can be accessed.
  • If data cannot be made open, authors should state why in the data availability statement.
  • If the data is open, please deposit the data in a recognized data repository prior to or at the time of submission and include the DOI, pre-reserved DOI, or other persistent identifier for the data set.

J. Ethics declarations & trial registry information

  • Please ensure that all research reported in submitted papers has been conducted in an ethical and responsible manner and is in full compliance with all relevant codes of experimentation and legislation.
  • All original research papers involving humans, animals, plants, biological material, protected or non-public datasets, collections or sites, providing the approval number from the appropriate ethics committee or Institutional Review Board and that where relevant, informed consent has been obtained.
  • For clinical studies, please provide trial registry identifiers/approval numbers in ClinicalTrials.gov.

K. Disclosure statements

  • Any financial or non-financial interest that has arisen from the direct applications of your research should be reported.
  • If there are no relevant competing interests to declare please state “The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.”

L. References

  • The number of references should be limited in accordance with article type.
  • References should be consecutively numbered and referred to in the text by their number within brackets.
  • Please note that only published findings, and manuscripts in press should be cited in the reference list.
  • When available, DOI numbers should be added to the references.
  • If there are six or fewer authors, state all in the reference list. If there are more than six, state the first six and use et al. for additional authors.
  • Unpublished findings, i.e. research findings which have not been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal or other formal publication (including preprints), must be shown as footnotes only and should not be included in the reference list.

For further details regarding references, see https://www.nlm.nih.gov/bsd/uniform_requirements.html#journals.

M. Tables

  • Tables should present new information rather than duplicating what is in the text.
  • Readers should be able to interpret the table without reference to the text.
  • Tables should be provided as editable files in the manuscript file.
  • Do not submit tables as photographs.
  • Supply a brief title for each table.
  • Each column should have a short heading.
  • Explanatory matters should be placed in notes above the table.

N. Figures/illustrations

  • All illustrations should be considered as figures.
  • Illustrations should be of high quality (1200 dpi for line art, 600 dpi for grayscale and 300 dpi for colour, at the correct size).
  • Letters and numerals should be large enough to allow the reduction of illustrations to one column.
  • Illustrations should preferably be provided in colour (CMYK colours).
  • Each graph, drawing, or photograph should be numbered in sequence with Arabic numerals.
  • Highlight an introductory sentence in bold and list footnotes below the table, using a, b, c for referencing.
  • Asterix is used for probability values.
  • The use of symbols should be consistent between figures.
  • Illustrations should be submitted as separate files (stating the figure number) in the formats EPS, JPEG or TIFF.
  • Illustrations should also be included on the last page of the manuscript (including the figure legend).

Supplemental Material

  • Supplemental material can be data, images, video or other relevant information that supports and is pertinent to the paper.
  • Please submit all supplemental materials as one separate Word file.
  • Please make sure to include any supplementary files at the same time as you submit your manuscript.
  • Supplemental material will be published as submitted, and will thus not be checked for scientific content, it will not be copyedited, and it will not be typeset.
  • Please note that publishing supplementary material involves a fee a smaller publication fee to cover administration costs, but video files will be published free of charge.

Graphical Abstract

  • The provision of a graphical abstract is optional and encouraged.
  • The image should have a maximum width of 525 pixels and should be provided as a separate file in the formats .jpg, .png, or .gif.

Video Abstracts

  • Video abstracts is also optional but an excellent way of getting others to engage with your research, ultimately increasing the visibility and impact of your work.
  • Please keep the video abstract short and to the point (no more than 3-4 minutes). Please use the video formats MP4, MOV or MPEG4
  • The minimum dimension is 426 x 240 and the max dimension is 3840 x 2160.
  • Please use our PowerPoint-template with the Acta DV logotype.
  • Examples of author-videos can be found here video abstract sample 1 and sample 2.
  • The video abstract should be prepared and finalized only after formal manuscript acceptance.
  • The video abstract will not be peer-reviewed and will be published free of charge.

Grammar and Writing Instructions

  • Please use British or US spelling style consistently throughout your manuscript.
  • Manuscripts are expected to have a high standard of English and should typically have undergone professional English review.
  • Please select Times New Roman as the font, and 12pt as the font size.
  • As subheadings, use lower case letters italicized or underlined.
  • Abbreviations, which are not generally accepted, should be spelt out when first used in the text.
  • Please use SI units (non-italicized) when relevant.
  • Footnotes should be numbered and indicated using superscript in the text.

Submission: Submit the manuscript as one Microsoft Word file; using 12-point font (Times New Roman); 1.5-spacing; and employs italics, rather than underlining. All tables are placed at the end of the paper, after the references. Figures should also be imbedded at the end of the manuscript. Additionally, please note that the figures should also be submitted in the running manuscript as well as separate EPS, JPEG or TIFF files. Any supplementary material must also be submitted at the end of the manuscript file, but supplemental figures should also be submitted separately. Any supplementary video should be submitted separately

Language: All papers should be written in English (British or American). Upon submission, it is essential that the language is irreproachable. If the Editorial Board finds that the manuscript do not fulfill these criteria, it will be sent back to the authors, along with an instruction to send the manuscript for language review at the author's risk and expense. If resubmitted, a receipt of an external language review will be required.

Conflict of interest and funding: Authors are responsible for recognising and disclosing financial and other conflicts of interest that might bias their work. They should acknowledge in the manuscript all financial support for the work and other financial or personal connections to the work. If they have no interests to declare, this should be stated (recommended wording: The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare).

UN Declaration of Human Rights: ActaDV makes a statement against war and violence, in all parts of the world, and therefore requires all authors to confirm that they accept and agree with the UN’s Declaration of Human Rights when submitting a manuscript to the journal.

Use of large language models: As of February 15, 2023, the use of large language models (LLMs) including Chat Generative Pre-Trained Transformer (ChatGPT, OpenAI, San Francisco, CA, USA) are allowed by the Editorial office. Please read this editorial for further details. If authors submitting their work to ActaDV opt to use LLMs to help in the writing process, it is mandatory to state this in the Acknowledgements section. Please state the exact program used including how it was used. We would like to remind all submitting authors that textbook knowledge should consistently be avoided. It is essential that a balanced, unbiased, and accurate literature review is always responsibly compiled by the listed authors and must never be left to LLM.
When utilizing LLMs in writing, their application should be limited to enhancing readability and language. LLMs should not supplant essential authoring responsibilities, such as generating scientific, educational, or medical insights, or drawing scientific conclusions. It is crucial to use these technologies under human supervision and to rigorously review and edit the resulting content. Content generated by LLMs may sound credible but can be erroneous, incomplete, or biased. The authors of a manuscript bear full responsibility and accountability for their work's content.

Importantly, authors must never assign authorship or co-authorship to LLMs or any other machine learning technologies. Authorship involves responsibilities and duties uniquely attributable to humans, including addressing questions regarding the work's accuracy and integrity, approving the final manuscript, and consenting to its submission. Authors must also ensure the originality of their work, and verify the qualifications for authorship of the listed authors.

Preprint policy: ActaDV does not consider postings on not-for-profit preprint servers, such as bioRxiv, to be duplicate publication. Hence, such preprint postings will not jeopardize consideration for publication in the journal. Please note however, that although eligibility for consideration for publication in ActaDV will not be compromised by preprint posting, it could have a negative impact on the novelty of the submission if widespread publicity is achieved. Preprints should be published under a CC-BY-NC license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0).

Arrangement of manuscript

In order to primarily save authors time, and make the peer review faster for reviewers, we have prepared manuscript templates to help authors when submitting their manuscript to ActaDV. We strongly recommend you to use these for your submissions. Please click on the template of relevance to download this to your computer.

Manuscript template - Full reports
Manuscript template - Short communication (please note that the Material and methods section as well as the Results section are not obligatory for all short communications, such as case reports)
Manuscript template - Quiz
Manuscript template - Research Letter

Manuscripts should normally be divided into Title Page, Abstract, Introduction, Methods, Results, Discussion, and References. Please note the following:

  • The title is important; it should be informative without being too long.
  • Textbook knowledge should be avoided in the Introduction; instead the reader should be suggested recent reviews for detailed backgrounds.
  • The Material and Methods section should as far as possible be in the form of references to previous reports.
  • The Results should be presented either in the running text or in Tables and/or Figures without repeating all data.
  • The Discussion should not start with a long introduction but more directly discuss the meaning of the results in relation to previous studies; any limitations of the study should be highlighted.
  • The number of illustrations and tables can be kept minimal in the main paper, but additional supplementary material may be used.

Title page to include:
a) the title of the article;
b) name of the authors;
c) the institutions of origin;
d) a short title and for Short Communications and Research Letters also the corresponding author's name, address, and e-mail.
e) Manuscript word count (from the Introduction to the Discussion sections)

Please note that it should be a maximum of 5 authors for Short Communications, Research Letters and Quizzes.

Abstract: The abstract, not exceeding 200 words, should state the reason that prompted the study, purpose, methods, the most important findings and as a conclusion the single most important finding. The abstract should be unstructured (i.e., written with no headlines). In general, abbreviations are not allowed and references should not be used. Below the abstract: Title of the journal; The principal author's complete address, including e-mail. The Abstract should be typed on a separate sheet.

Significance: Include a significance of a maximum of 100 words, which is easily read and understood also by non-scientific readers. Please avoid medical and statistical terms and try to explain your work to your “neighbour”. Emphasize the relevance of your work, how it will contribute to existing research and also how it will benefit society.

Key words: A list of 3-6 keywords suitable for indexing terms should be typed at the bottom of the Abstract page. Please select your keywords using the following link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/

Pagination: Ensure that all text pages are correctly numbered in the top right-hand corner, beginning with the title page.

Headings: Please use the following headings: ABSTRACT, MATERIALS AND METHODS, RESULTS, DISCUSSION, AND REFERENCES.

Subheadings: Use lower case letters italicized or underlined.

References: Should be numbered consecutively in the order in which they are first mentioned in the text. No abstracts from proceedings or submitted manuscripts not in press are allowed. Identify references in the text using Arabic numerals in parenthesis (NOT in superscript). The style of references must follow the Vancouver system (please click here for the EndNote-template), and for the abbreviations of journal titles: please consult the Journals database, hosted at www.nlm.nih.gov.

  1. Reference to periodicals: Tsutsumi R, Adachi K, Yoshida Y, Yamamoto O. Drug-induced hypersensitivity syndrome in association with varicella. Acta Derm Venereol 2015; 95: 503-504.
  2. Reference to books: Handwerker H. Itch hypothesis. In: Carstens E, Akiyama T, editors. Itch: Mechanisms and Treatment. Boca Raton (FL): CRC Press; 2014: p. 2-8.
  3. Journal article in electronic format: Morse SS. Factors in the emergence of infectious diseases. Emerg Infect Dis [serial online] 1995 Jan-Mar [cited 1996 Jun 5]; 1(1): [24 screens]. Available from: URL:http://www.cdc.gov/ncidod/EID/eid.htm

Please note that only published findings, and manuscripts in press should be cited in the reference list. Unpublished findings, i.e. research findings which have not been accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed journal or other formal publication (including preprints), must be shown as footnotes only and should not be included in the reference list. Footnotes should be numbered and indicated using superscript in the text. Please note however, that ActaDV advices you to only consider adding these types of references when deemed necessary.

Tables and figures: Line drawing and lettering should be large enough to sustain photoreduction. Tables are to be numbered consecutively with Roman numerals. Each table should be typed on a separate sheet and should have a descriptive, self-explanatory title (i.e. no unexplained abbreviations) above the table to which it refers. Highlight an introductory sentence in bold and list footnotes below the table, using a, b, c for referencing. Asterix is used for probability values. Place other explanatory text above the table.

All illustrations should be considered as figures. Each graph, drawing, or photograph should be numbered in sequence with Arabic numerals. All figures should have legends, listed on one separate sheet.

Microarray databases: Acta Dermato-Venereologica supports the efforts of the Functional Genomics Data Society to standardize the presentation of microarray data, on which further guidance can be found here. In addition, the journal strongly recommends the supplemental microarray data be deposited in a public database such as Gene Expression Omnibus or Array Express or submitted for peer-review with the initial submission of the manuscript.

Reviews: Due to the high number received manuscript we are unable to give priority to scoping or narrative reviews. Systematic reviews must adhere to the PRISMA guidelines (please find the link below) and preferably these reviews should also be registered at prospectively at PROSPERO https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/.

Manuscript checklists:
For observational studies, please follow the STROBE statement and submit a completed STROBE checklist as supporting information.

For randomized controlled trials, please follow the CONSORT statement and submit a completed CONSORT checklist as supporting information.

For systematic reviews, please follow the PRISMA statement and submit a PRISMA checklist as supporting information.

For prediction investigations please follow the TRIPOD guidelines and submit a TRIPOD checklist as supporting information.

Social Media

To strengthen the impact and visibility of research published in our journal, we encourage authors to assist us by providing content suitable for sharing across various social media platforms.

Social media summary for Short communication, Original report, and Systematic review

To enhance the reach and influence of their research, authors are encouraged, though not required, to submit a social media summary of no more than 300 words alongside their short communication, original report, or systematic review. The editorial office strongly advocates for this practice, considering it to be in the authors' best interest to maximize the visibility and impact of their work. The social media summary should contextualize the findings for the practicing dermatologist, offering them a clear and concise understanding of your work's implications. We wish to highlight the critical role that author contributions play in the social media dissemination of their work upon submission to Acta DV, as the impact and reach of social media engagement are significantly influenced by the quality of the materials provided.

Quiz Case Reports shared online

Accepted manuscripts in the Quiz section will be shared online to engage interest and interactivity. We kindly ask you to use the template provided to facilitate the online format of your Quiz.

Supplementary material

Supplementary material can include for example video- and audio files but also figures, tables, and datasets that are of relevant to the main article. Including supplementary material with your article can make it more discoverable, and help maximizing downloads and citations. For supplemental video content please adhere the instructions provided in the section below.

Please make sure to include any supplementary files at the same time as you submit your manuscript, although a video abstract can be sent upon acceptance instead.

Supplemental material will be published as submitted, and will thus not be checked for scientific content, it will not be copyedited and it will not be typeset. Please note that publishing supplementary material involves a fee of 25 €/file to cover administration costs, but video files will be published free of charge.

Video Abstracts

Video abstracts is an excellent way of getting others to engage with your research, ultimately increasing the visibility and impact of your work. Through a video abstract you can introduce the article in your own words, telling readers what the unique contribution of your article is and why they should read it. We recommend keeping a video abstract short and to the point (no more than 3-4 minutes) and that you use images, charts or tables to help explain the focus of your article. Consider the aim of the video throughout – to get people to read your article. The best video format is MP4 although other video formats such as MOV and MPEG4 are also supported. The minimum dimension is 426 x 240 and the max dimension is 3840 x 2160.

Since people have wide-screen computers, please use the 16:9 format for your recording. Most users today are familiar with PowerPoint and as such we have prepared a PowerPoint-template with the Acta DV logotype. Examples of author-videos can be found here video abstract sample 1 and sample 2. The video abstract should be prepared and finalized only after formal manuscript acceptance. The Video Abstract will not be peer-reviewed and will be published free of charge.

Graphical Abstracts/Infographics (Optional)

A graphical abstract, also commonly known as a visual abstract, is a concise, pictorial representation of the main findings or the core concept of a research paper. Acta DV, recognizing the importance of visual communication in today’s scientific discourse, encourages authors to include a graphical abstract as part of their submission. This optional but recommended element may be added as a supplementary figure in the supplemental material of the paper. The graphical abstract serves as a visual summary that encapsulates the essence of the study, making it easier for readers to quickly understand the key points and the significance of the research. Graphical abstracts are designed to catch the eye of readers, facilitating broader engagement with both the scientific community and the public by making research findings accessible at a glance.

To create an effective graphical abstract for Acta DV, authors should aim to visually represent the methodology, results, and conclusions of their study in a clear, concise, and visually appealing manner. This often involves the use of diagrams, figures, and minimal text to convey the study's essence without oversimplifying or misrepresenting the findings.

While the preparation of a graphical abstract requires additional effort on the part of the authors, the potential benefits in terms of increased engagement, accessibility, and impact on social media platforms make it a worthwhile endeavor.

Articles

Section default policy

Copyright Notice

When publishing articles open access in Acta Dermato-Venereologica, the author(s) will retain the copyright in their work, and grant first publication rights to Society for Publication of Acta Dermato-Venereologica. In consideration of the publication of the article, the authors grant to Acta Dermato-Venereologica the licence to 1) publish, reproduce, distribute, display and store the article worldwide in all forms, formats and media now known or as developed in the future, including print, electronic and digital forms, and 2) to translate the article into other languages, create adaptations, summaries or extracts of the article. Please note that authors are themselves responsible for obtaining permission for reproducing copyrighted material from other sources.

Authors submitting to Acta Dermato-Venereologica agree to publish their articles under the CC-BY-NC 4.0 licence, which dictates what others can do with the article once it has been published. This licence allows for the non-commercial reuse of the published paper so long as the published paper is fully attributed.

All commercial requests to re-use the article in whole or in part will be handled by the Society for Publication of Acta Dermato-Venereologica. Any permission fees will be retained by this organization. For the purposes of these terms, “commercial use” means use in any manner that is primarily intended for or directed toward commercial advantage or monetary compensation, including but not limited to provision or distribution (including by way of hyperlink) of the article (including any abstract, figures or tables) in any format.

Privacy Statement

Privacy Statement

Acta Dermato-Venereologcia is committed to manage personal data and information with the highest responsibility and standards of professionalism.

The privacy policy explains how we collect, use and protect personal information and how you can exercise your rights over your personal information.