Manuscript Submission

IJMSC is bronze open access: there are never any article processing charges or author publishing charges. The research entrusted to IJMSC is free to access for fellow researchers, MS clinicians, persons with MS, and all interested in multidisciplinary care.

Manuscripts must meet specific word limits for each article type. All but 2 of the word counts do NOT include references. We have a 75 reference limit.

Submissions should adhere to the Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing, and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals and the American Medical Association Manual of Style, 11th ed. (Oxford University Press, 2020).

Cover Letter

Must include statement of exclusive submission.

Manuscript Formatting

Manuscripts should include a title page, keywords, practice points, abstract, text, references, and tables and figures, if applicable. All elements of the manuscript should be typed in Microsoft Word. Please double space and do not use special formatting, including headers, footers, or embedded footnotes or endnotes. All pages should be numbered and continuous line numbering should be used (Page Layout; Line Numbers; Continuous).

• Title Page: article title (generally ≤18 words and avoid emphasizing a conclusion or using a question); full name and highest degree of each author; name and location of departments and institutions with which each author is affiliated (in English); name, address, telephone number, and e-mail address of the corresponding author; running head (≤45 characters with spaces); and 3 to 5 keywords.
• Practice Points: What 2-3 aspects of your paper will clinicians use in their everyday care of patients with MS? Choose actionable items. ≤100 words total for all practice points. Avoid repeating sentences from the abstract.
• Abstract: Summarize the content of the paper in 250 words or less. The abstract should be understandable without reference to the text and should not contain references. Abstracts for reports of original data and systematic reviews (including meta-analyses) should be structured using the following headings: Background, Methods, Results, Conclusions. Other types of manuscripts (narrative reviews, case reports) may use an unstructured abstract.
• Text: Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion. Subheadings are encouraged for Methods and Results sections but should be avoided in Introduction and Discussion. Avoid using uncommon abbreviations.
• Acknowledgments: In addition to expressing thanks or acknowledging assistance, authors should list anyone who contributed to the manuscript but who does not qualify as an author and detail their contribution. Authors are responsible for informing anyone named in this section that they are being mentioned and obtaining their approval before publication (authors should keep documentation of this).Patient Consent Form
• Financial Disclosures: Authors must disclose all relationships, financial and nonfinancial, that could be viewed as presenting conflicts of interest. If an author has no conflicts of interest to disclose, this should be stated. In addition, each author must declare conflicts of interest as part of the online manuscript submission process. For further details, refer to our Conflict of Interest Disclosure Policy.
• Funding/Support: All financial and material support for the work should be clearly and completely identified. Write “none” or an equivalent statement if applicable.
• Prior Presentation: If any of the material has been read or exhibited at a meeting, include a sentence with presentation type and name, date(s), and location of meeting.
• References: References, ≤30 if possible, must be numbered consecutively and cited by number in the order of use. Recent references (published within the past 5 years) are preferred. Follow AMA style guidelines. DOIs should be included. Tip: Enter your reference title in PubMed, click the "Cite" button, select "AMA," and copy and paste the citation.
• Tables and Figures: Only essential tables and figures should be included. Each table and figure should have a concise title, be numbered separately, and be cited in the text in the correct order. Please submit tables and figures as separate, native files in high resolution (one for each distinct image or chart). Tables and figures must be able to be edited and must be oriented to fit vertically on a regular 8.5x11 page. If the table/figure is too large to orient this way, it must be submitted as supplementary material. Photographs should have a minimum resolution of 300 dpi and should be submitted as JPEG. The final decision regarding the total number and size of regular and supplementary tables and figures for each published manuscript rests with the editor in chief. Since IJMSC is online only, there is room for additional or longer-length tables and figures in the body of the paper. Up to 4 total tables/figures can be included. Any lengthy tables/figures and additional tables/figures should be labeled as supplemental and will be included with the article after the references (ie, not in the body of the paper itself).
• Copyright: All tables and figures reprinted from other publications should be accompanied by a complete citation of the source, and, if any substantial portion is to be reproduced, written permission to reprint the item must be obtained by the author from the copyright owner(s) and sent with the submission. If a table has been created from the text of a previous publication, “Data from…” should be placed as a footnote with the appropriate reference or citation. Authors must also receive permission to use and properly cite measurement tools, such as scales. It is not the journal’s responsibility to verify the copyright status for tables, figures, and measurement tools.
• Supplementary Material: Supplementary material should be labeled as such (eg, Table S1). Any tables or figures over the 4 that can be included in the body of the paper and/or any lengthy tables or figures will be included in the article after the references. Any extremely lengthy supplementary materials and/or any table or figure in landscape format will accompany the article as a PDF. The final decision regarding the total number and size of regular and supplementary tables and figures for each published manuscript rests with the editor in chief.

Checklist for Manuscript Submission

 Cover letter.
 Full name, highest degree, and affiliation of each author.
 Address, telephone number, email, and ORCID of corresponding author.
 3-5 keywords.
 Practice Points.
 Abstract.
 Text.
 Acknowledgments.
 Prior Presentation.
 Financial Disclosures.
 Funding/Support.
 References.
 Table/Figures.
 Supplementary Material.

Peer Review

All submissions are initially reviewed by the editor in chief for correspondence to the journal's mission and overall scientific quality. If accepted, the manuscript is sent for external peer review to content experts in the subject area.

IJMSC uses a single-blind peer-review process: reviewers’ identities are not revealed to authors, but authors’ identities are not hidden from reviewers. Two reviewers are assigned to each manuscript. Peer reviewers must disclose any actual or potential conflicts of interest in reviewing specific manuscripts and disqualify themselves from a specific review if there is a potential for bias. In addition, reviewers are required to maintain confidentiality. Reviewers can accept or reject a manuscript or send it back for revision by including comments. Final acceptance decisions are made by the editor in chief and the corresponding author is notified of the decision by email.

Authors are asked to suggest 2 to 5 potential reviewers upon submission.

Rejection appeals should be sent to the editor in chief with a rebuttal that fully addresses the reviewer comments. The manuscript's review will be investigated and the editor in chief will decide whether to obtain additional reviews or uphold the original decision. The final decision will then be conveyed to the author, and no further appeals will be considered.

The peer review process ensures journal and scientific integrity. Without it, our work would grind to a halt. If you are interested in being added to our peer review database, contact Charlene Belsole at [email protected].

Data Sharing Policy

IJMSC has adopted a “reasonable request” policy regarding data sharing.

Authors agree to make data and materials supporting the results or analyses presented in their paper available upon reasonable request. It is up to the author to determine whether a request is reasonable.

Please note that data should only be shared if it is ethically correct to do so, where this does not violate the protection of human subjects, or other valid ethical, privacy, or security concerns.

Authors are required to respond to data sharing requests in association with their paper following publication.

Data citation
Authors are expected to cite any datasets in the body of the article, with a corresponding reference in the reference list. Please refer to our data citation best practice.

Peer review
It is the author’s responsibility to ensure the soundness of any data. Any errors in the data rest solely with the producers of the dataset(s).

After Paper Acceptance

Editing and Indexing

Once all forms are submitted, the paper enters the prepublication queue. All accepted manuscripts are edited for clarity, style, conciseness, and format according to AMA guidelines and IJMSC style. The edited manuscript is sent to the corresponding author, who is asked to answer any queries and approve the edited version for publication. The corresponding author is responsible for communicating with coauthors as needed about editorial changes or questions. Authors are responsible for the accuracy of the final approved manuscript, including changes made during editing. Supplementary material is generally only edited for obvious typographical errors, inconsistencies, and minor style issues. Once edits are returned, the paper is designed and then page proofs are sent for a final check by the author. The approved, designed article is then placed in the queue for publication on the IJMSC site. Articles are currently posted once a week in the order in which they have been approved and processed. Any articles chosen as a Continuing Education article moves to the front of the queue for early publication during its designated time period.

Once published, articles are indexed on Scopus, the Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL), and the Rehabilitation & Sports Medicine Source (EBSCO Publishing). All articles are also archived in PubMed Central, with citations and abstracts retrievable in PubMed.

Copyright Assignment
All manuscripts accepted by IJMSC, including any supplementary material, become the sole, permanent property of the Consortium of Multiple Sclerosis Centers and may not be published elsewhere without written permission from the publisher. The Copyright Transfer Agreement is included on the Authorship Form that is sent to the corresponding author on acceptance. The corresponding author is responsible for ensuring that each author signs and returns a separate form. Articles will not be published without a signed copyright release from all authors. Transfer of copyright implies transfer of rights for printed, electronic, microfilm, and facsimile publication. For manuscripts with funding from agencies (eg, NIH) that require final versions to be posted in publicly accessible repositories, the author retains the right to provide a copy of the final article, as published in IJMSC, to the funding agency for public archiving. One exception to the copyright release policy: Authors who are US government employees who have prepared their manuscript as part of their official duties are not required to sign a Copyright Transfer Agreement as, by law, their work is in the public domain.