Author's Guidelines

The electronic journal INFECTIONS IN EVIDENCE - Case Reports (ISSN-2764-734X) is an initiative of the Emilio Ribas Studies Center (CEER) currently published by Genius Design, a company specializing in the Open Journal System (OJS). 
 

Authors are asked to strictly follow the editorial standards of the Journal described below, particularly regarding the maximum number of authors, words, tables and figures allowed, as well as the rules for bibliographic references. Failure to comply with the editorial instructions will result in the return of the manuscript by the Editors for the authors to make the relevant corrections before submitting it to the reviewers. 
 

Articles that do not present merit, which contain significant methodological errors, or that do not fit the editorial policy of the Journal may be rejected by the Editor-in-Chief and/or Associate Editors, with no appeal. 

 

The electronic journal INFECTIONS IN EVIDENCE - Case Reports is intended for the publication of case reports involving any context of health care in an explicit interface with Infectious Diseases itself and its related areas. Case series (more than three) and other forms of scientific work (retro or prospective studies, literature reviews, etc.) are not candidates and will not be accepted for publication in the Journal, unless otherwise decided by the editors. 
 

The motivation to report a case stems from the professional's experience in treating patients with rare diseases or academic interest, when there is a diagnostic challenge, when adverse effects or complications arise during treatment, in the face of innovative procedures, or even in the case of frequent diseases with unusual evolution, when there are difficulties in their conduction and clinical resolution or that involve ethical, moral or legal dilemmas.
 

The articles will always be published in Portuguese and English, and can be written and submitted by the authors in either of these two languages - it is up to the production team of the Journal to provide its translation or version, as the case may be. The entire process of submission, evaluation, editorial work, translation, and publication of articles in INFECTIONS IN EVIDENCE is completely free for the authors and co-authors, with no fees or financial charges at any point during the process. 
 

Manuscripts, as well as other mandatory documents (Copyright Transfer Agreement, Conflict of Interests Statement and ethical approval of the institution of origin), must be submitted exclusively online through the site: http://infectologiaemevidencia.org/

 

The inclusion of an author in a manuscript submitted for publication is only justified if contributing significantly, from an intellectual point of view, to its realization. It is implied that the author participated in at least one of the following phases: 1) choice and conception of the Case Report itself; 2) writing and/or or reviewing the discussion in light of the interpretation of the evidence and comparison with the scientific literature; and 3) approval of the final version.
 

The concepts contained in the manuscripts are the sole responsibility of the authors, and they must answer for any and all questions. 
 

The electronic journal INFECTIONS IN EVIDENCE - Case Reports accepts a maximum of 6 (six) authors. In the case of a larger number of co-authors, the lead author should send a letter to the Editor-in-Chief describing the participation of each author in the work.

 

The main manuscript must be attached through the journal's submission platform in .DOC or .DOCX format, ARIAL font size 12, and paragraphs with single spacing. Graphics and tables must be included in this same and only .DOC file (not as images), right after the References. All images should be attached individually in .JPEG or .JPG format, with the best possible resolution (visit the Tips on Images session on our Home Page). Bibliographic references should be listed in the main text AND attached separately, also in WORD format. All other documents can be attached only in .PDF or .DOC / .DOCX format.
The next Table summarizes all archives and documents (with respective formats) that are required for the submission of any article through the Journal's platform:

 

 

The Journal's online submission tool collects the following information separately: the title of the manuscript (in Portuguese and English), full name (without abbreviations) and title of the lead author and all coauthors with respective ORCID number (available at https://orcid.org), author’s affiliations, full address for contacting the lead author (address, telephone number and email), name of the funding body (if any), the abstract, as well as at least three keywords besides "Case Report". 

 

3.1.1. TITLE: must be succinct, descriptive and precise, preferably limited to a maximum of 15 words. Abbreviations should be avoided whenever possible. The titles of the articles should not include the phrase "Case Report", as this is already explicit in the very design and configuration of the website of the Journal.

 

3.1.2. ABSTRACT: should be short, limited to 200 words. Avoid abbreviations or references. The abstract should not be structured, but should initially present the main problem (citing the justification and importance of the case to be reported) followed by a quick description of the case itself, the eventual interventions performed, its respective evolution and the arguments that support the impact of the case presented.

 

3.1.3. KEYWORDS: should be provided with three to five keywords (besides "Case Report") that define the subject of the manuscript bth in English and in Portuguese, based on the DeCS (Health Sciences Descriptors, available at http://decs.bvs.br) database for the terms in Portuguese and the MeSH (Medical Subject Headings available at https://www.nlm.nih.gov/mesh/meshhome.html) database for terms in English.

 

The lead author must print the two documents available in the Journal site, complete them and sign the specific Form on behalf of all other co-authors and then scan and attach them individually (in .pdf or .jpg format) to the online submission system of the Journal.

 

The Copyright Transfer Agreement assumes that the authors are the legitimate holders of the copyright of the Case Report in question, without infringing any copyright, trademark or patent of others. The assignment of copyright related to this article follows the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 international license, which allows the user to freely read, download, share, and adapt cultural and scientific productions, provided that due credit is given to the original authors and publication. In the case of this Journal, all articles published here assume that this license is granted without the authors needing to acknowledge, support, or approve the use of their scientific production, and it can never be revoked, as long as the user also respects its terms.

The Copyright Transfer Agreement also understands that the authors guarantee that the respective Case Report has never been published in another communication vehicle or scientific journal. Papers presented at meetings and/or scientific congresses may be published in the electronic journal INFECTIONS IN EVIDENCE - Case Reports, provided that they have not been published in whole or in part in their Proceedings or Annals as a full article including images, discussion and bibliographic references, or that have been assigned a specific DOI record. 
 

As for conflict of interest, this occurs when a professional's judgment on a primary interest (e.g., patient safety or scientific truth) may be influenced by some other secondary interest (e.g., financial gain or personal prestige). If there is any conflict of interest involving the authors, it needs to be explained. Otherwise, a declaration attesting to its exemption is also necessary.

 

Institutional ethical approval for Brazilian reported cases consists of the official opinion from the National Research Ethics System (formerly CEP/CONEP system) based on Federal Law 14.874/24 and other specific regulations such as Circular Letter No. 166/2018 or a similar document attesting to the knowledge and authorization by the institution of origin in the case of foreign works.

 

 

3.4.1. Body of Text: should not exceed 2.000 words (excluding title, abstract, key words, bibliographic references and figures). Its structure should be composed of Introduction, Case Report, Discussion and Conclusion.
 The Introduction should address the context of the Case Report with reference to the relevant medical literature and justify its scientific interest for publication. The introduction should ideally not exceed more than two paragraphs.
As for the Case Report proper, its redaction should be objective, taking into account the description of the facts and remaining constant until the outcome chosen by the author, and any information that suggests the identification of the patient should be suppressed. It is recommended that the initials of the patient or precise dates (day/month/year) should not be cited to protect the privacy and professional confidentiality of the individual portrayed, as well as to present only relevant data to illustrate the case and enrich the discussion.

The text should be straightforward, not structured, following a chronological and organized order in the narrative, eliminating superfluous data, details in excess and confusing or unconfirmed information. Initially, the patient must be characterized (sex, age, ethnicity and profession, if applicable) and past history and/or background (relevant personal or family), then the current history (complaint and duration), the physical examination (positive findings - negative, only if strategic), laboratory and image exams (making the call to the respective figures), procedures performed, treatment etc. If there is a didactic interest, the evolution of the facts can be presented in graphic form as a timeline. 

The patient's medical records (including the evolution recorded by the various professionals who provided him/her assistance, test results, prescription of treatments, etc.) is usually the main source of information in a Case Report, however other possibilities are also allowed and sometimes necessary (e.g., data from administrative notebooks and records of interviews already taken place). 
The Discussion aims to compare the Case Report with similar (or distinct) cases already described in the literature, cite strengths and/or limitations in the conduct of the case, list diagnostic hypotheses and/or alternative conducts and treatments in such a way as to culminate in the Conclusion of the article, i.e., what are the main lessons that can be learned from this Report.
 

Note. 1: The identification of authors, institution(s) abstracts and keywords should not be included / repeated in the "main" file of the manuscript. 

Note. 2: With the exception of the measurement units commonly used, acronyms and abbreviations should be avoided to the fullest. If they need to be used, they should always be defined the first time they are mentioned, for example: C-reactive protein (CRP). After the abbreviation has been defined, the full term should no longer be used. 

Note. 3: When any commercial information or equipment is mentioned, data explaining the product (manufacturer's name, country of origin, etc.) should be provided. 

Note. 4: If there are reasons for acknowledgments and collaborations that do not justify including these colleagues as co-authors of the article, they should be included as the last paragraph of the text, after the conclusions, in italics. 

 

3.4.2. Citations in the text: shall be numbered with Arabic numerals and in the order in which they were cited. The number of the citation must be placed at the end of the text, before the end point of the sentence, overwritten and without space between the last word and the number. Mention of the authors name should be avoided throughout the text, always giving preference to numerical citations only; if this is not possible, enter the citation number immediately after the author's name, without placing the publication year - example: according to Lacaz et al. ⁵, the environment... In sequential citations, the numerals should be separated by hyphen and, in interspersed citations, with commas, without spacing between the characters - example: infectious ^2,5,6-9. 
Direct citations with up to three lines should be transcribed in quotation marks with the citation number at the end of the text, following the guidelines above. Citations with more than three lines should be transcribed in a specific paragraph, without quotation marks, with indentation of the left margin of 4 cm, simple spacing and font size smaller than the text of the article, followed by the respective citation number.

 

3.4.3. References: the maximum limit of bibliographic references is 20 (twenty). Only references used in the text should be indicated.
For all references, a maximum of six authors should be cited - if there is more, the expression et al. should be added.

The titles of the journals cited shall be abbreviated according to the list Journals Indexed in Index Medicus, of the National Library of Medicine, which is available at the address https://www.library.caltech.edu/journal-title-abbreviations.
The formatting of bibliographic references should be based on the Vancouver style, as shown below.

Melo FAF, Afiune JB, Ide Neto J, Almeida EA, Spada DTA, Antelmo ANL, et al. Epidemiological aspects of multidrug-resistant tuberculosis in a referral service in the city of São Paulo. Rev Soc Bras Med Trop 2003; 36:27-34. https://doi.org/10.1590/S0037-86822003000100005 
PS - as long as it exists, always include the doi address.
 

Bethlem N, Bethlem EP, Ribeiro SN, Gerhardt Filho G, Silva JRL, Souza GRM, et al. Tuberculose. In: Bethlem N, editor. Pneumologia. 4th ed. São Paulo: Atheneu; 1995. p. 379-448.
 

Santos MA, Makibara RN, Formentin FS, Costa JS, Santana JRP, Moreira RS, et al. HIV / tuberculosis co-infection: the panorama in the state of Sergipe in the last 10 years [Internet]. In: Urban and global diseases. 52nd Congress of the Brazilian Society of Tropical Medicine; 21-24 ago 2016 [cited 22 Oct 2020], Maceió, AL. Available at: http://www.sbmt.org.br/medtrop2016/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/8055-Coinfecc%CC%A7a%CC%83o-HIV-tuberculose-o-panorama-no-estado-de-Sergipe-nos-u%CC%81ltimos-10-anos.pdf.

or

Rice AS, Farquhar-Smith WP, Bridges D, Brooks JW. Canabinoids and pain. In: Proceedings of the 10th World Congress on Pain; 2002 Aug 17-22; San Diego, CA. Seattle (WA): IASP Press; c2003. p. 437-68.

Figueiredo RCPS. Study of the use of the bacteriological method in the diagnosis of pulmonary tuberculosis in the city of Taubaté, S. Paulo [dissertation][Port]. São Paulo: School of Public Health, University of São Paulo; 1996.
 

Ministry of Health (BR). Health Surveillance Secretariat. Department of Communicable Diseases Surveillance. Manual of recommendations for tuberculosis control in Brazil. 2nd ed. Brasilia: MS; 2019. [cited 23 nov 2025]. Available at: https://www.gov.br/saude/pt-br/centrais-de-conteudo/publicacoes/svsa/tuberculose/manual-de-recomendacoes-e-controle-da-tuberculose-no-brasil-2a-ed.pdf/view

 

3.4.4. Regarding the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools: the use of applications such as ChatGPT, Bard or others that are sure to come, whether to write, translate, review or edit academic manuscripts presents ethical challenges for researchers and journals. The use of AI is not intrinsically unethical and depends, above all, on the human being taking responsibility for what was transcribed, beside ensuring compliance with regulations. (text adapted from SPINAK E. Inteligência Artificial e a comunicação da pesquisa [online][PORT]. SciELO em Perspectiva, 2023 [cited 5 November 2023]. Available from: https://blog.scielo.org/blog/2023/08/30/inteligencia-artificial-e-a-comunicacao-da-pesquisa/).
The electronic journal INFECTIONS IN EVIDENCE - Case Reports does not prohibit the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI) applications for writing manuscripts sent for publication, however it requires that, if applicable, the name of the AI tool and how it was used be explained as a note, at the end of the list of bibliographic references.

 

In accordance with their citation throughout the text, charts and tables should be inserted within the main text (in .doc format), while images should be attached individually (as .jpg), in a separate file of the Manuscript with the designation of each illustration identified in the text. The total number of figures, illustrations and/or tables should not exceed 6 (six). Please pay attention: figures should preferably be attached in .jpg or .jpeg format (read some "tips on images" on our website). Tables must be inserted within the main text or eventually attached, but always in .doc format, properly formatted, never as figures, images or in .pdf format.

Legends should accompany their images (photographs and illustrations) or tables. Each legend must be numbered in Arabic numerals, corresponding to its citations in the text (e.g., Figure 3). All abbreviations and acronyms used in the figures and tables must be defined in full below them. Quantities, units and symbols must comply with the corresponding Brazilian standards (http://www.abnt.org.br).

 

3.6. Below is a table with the main limits to be observed in the preparation of articles to be forwarded for publication in the electronic Journal INFECTIONS IN EVIDENCE - Case Reports:

 

 

In the case of files to be attached without matching some of the categories listed above (such as letters and recommendations to the Editor-in-Chief), they must be formatted as .doc or .pdf files.

 

All manuscripts, after submission, will initially be evaluated by the Editor-in-Chief or one of the Associate Editors and then forwarded to reviewers specialized in the subject, and anonymity is guaranteed throughout the Peer Review process. 
Each article will receive an internal registration number, exclusive to the electronic Journal INFECTIONS IN EVIDENCE - Case Reports, provided by the system itself online to facilitate their identification throughout the approval process. The chronological order of the publication of the approved articles, however, will not respect this sequence, because this determination is solely up to the Editor-in-Chief himself.
 

The Journal reserves the right to make any adaptations of style, grammatical and other revisions to the accepted articles, under the professional commitment of always submitting the final version for approval by the authors before its effective publication.