Front & Back Matter

Each paper needs an abstract of up to 250 words. Abstracts of papers submitted for publication in the sections Clinical Investigations, Basic Science Investigations, Interventional Pulmonology, and Technical Notes should be structured as follows: Background: What is the major motive that prompted the study? Objectives: What is the purpose of the study? Methods: How was the study done? Results: Most important findings. Conclusions: Most important conclusions. Introduction What is the main question? State your considerations leading to the formulation of this question. Material and Methods Prior approval of an Institutional Review Board (IRB) is required for all investigations involving human subjects and animals. Animal experimentation must be performed according to the Helsinki Declaration. Study design: Provide a short survey of the tests or experiments. Include the independent variable(s) manipulated, the dependent variable(s) measured and all controls. Methods: Describe methods and apparatus in detail. Provide references and brief description of methods already published. Identify drugs and chemicals, including generic name, dosage and administration. Describe the pre-study condition of patients or animals. Analysis: Define the variables. Use statistical analysis that is appropriate for the study. Describe statistical methods used for each analysis; provide references for tests that are not well known. Results A concise report of important results only. Use figures and tables for the presentation of data; summarize the most important observations in the text. Start and end dates of the study must be indicated (from ... to ..., preferably exact dates, but at least months and year[s]). Discussion Summarize main results and make sure you can answer the question asked in the introduction, briefly supporting the answer with the relevant results. Explain and defend the answer, comment on contradictory or unexpected results and discrepancies with previous findings. Elaborate on new and important aspects of the study. Acknowledgements Use this section to name persons who have contributed to the article, but whose contributions do not justify authorship. Footnotes Avoid footnotes. When essential, they are numbered consecutively and typed at the foot of the appropriate page. Tables and Illustrations Tables and illustrations (both numbered in Arabic numerals) should be prepared on separate sheets. Tables require a heading and figures a legend, also prepared on a separate sheet. Due to technical reasons, figures with a screen background should not be submitted. When possible, group several illustrations in one block for reproduction (max. size 180 223 mm) or provide crop marks. Each illustration must be labelled with its number and the first author’s name. B/w half-tone and color illustrations must have a final resolution of 300 dpi after scaling, line drawings one of 800– 1,200 dpi. Figure files must not be embedded in a document file but submitted separately (see detailed instructions at www.karger.com/res/). Color illustrations Online edition: Color illustrations are reproduced free of charge. In the print version, the illustrations are reproduced in black and white. Please avoid referring to the colors in the text and figure legends. Print edition: Up to 6 color illustrations per page can be integrated within the text at CHF 960.00 per page.