Monograph Submission Information

Due to the growing interest in the development of monographs by STFM groups, task forces, and committees, STFM has established a set of guidelines to allow us to handle these requests fairly and to communicate to editors, in advance, STFM's requirements for taking on a project of this magnitude. These guidelines are intended to help both authors and STFM staff work together to produce a quality product.

1. Monographs must be a product of an STFM group, task force, or committee (hereafter called groups). That means that the project must be an activity of the group, and group members must be active participants throughout the entire development of the project.

2. Groups must appoint an experienced editor to coordinate the monograph production. Group members appointed as editors are responsible for ensuring that the monograph guidelines are followed. This allows STFM to avoid delays in publication, duplication of effort, and added expense in time and resources.

3. Monograph proposals will be screened by the Communications Committee. It is important to note that the Communications Committee will favor monographs of fewer than 75 double-spaced, single-sided pages to facilitate a timely and thorough review of the monograph draft. Groups requesting longer monographs must include a justification for the additional pages. If the committee accepts the proposal, it will be sent to the STFM Board of Directors for final approval. Following the Board of Directors' approval, the monograph editor may proceed with developing a draft piece. Groups should be aware that acceptance of a monograph proposal does not ensure that the monograph will be accepted for publication.

4. Once completed, editors should submit the draft of the monograph to STFM to be reviewed by three reviewers, who may recommend the following:

5. If monograph was accepted with minor revisions required, editor/group will revise and send to STFM communications director (two hard copies and computer disks) for layout and publishing.

At this stage, all pages should be consistent in style and format, particularly the reference pages, and the draft should require only minor editing for spelling, grammar, and the AMA style book consistency. If the communications director does not find the monograph to be at this stage, it will be returned to the monograph editor. If asked to significantly revise monograph, editor/group will do so and submit for re-review by 3 reviewers. This process will be repeated only once. If accepted after second review, will proceed with production process.

B. TIMELINES

1. Initial review by the Communications Committee and the STFM Board will take 8 weeks. If the form needs to be revised, committee will have additional 6 weeks to review and comment on the proposal.

2. After the monograph draft is submitted, reviewers will review draft and forward comments to the Communications Committee chair and the STFM communications director within 6 weeks. Staff will compile comments and forward these to the monograph editor within 2 weeks following receipt of comments. If possible, reviewers should send comments electronically to facilitate the compiling process.

3. If minor revisions are suggested, the monograph editor should revise and resubmit the monograph within 6 weeks. If substantial revision is necessary the resubmission should be accomplished within 3 months.

4. If substantial revisions have been made, reviewers will have 2 weeks to review resubmitted document. If the monograph is rejected, the Communications Committee chair will notify the monograph editor and explain the reasons for rejection within 2 additional weeks.

5. The STFM office will produce the monograph within 3 months of final acceptance, if it is submitted according to format guidelines.

STFM staff will be happy to discuss any questions you have regarding the style rules or our monograph guidelines. Contact Communications Director Traci Nolte at 800-274-2237, ext. 5420, tnolte@stfm.org. STFM appreciates your cooperation and adherence to these rules to help us continue in our efforts to publish quality, affordable publications.

Monograph Style Guidelines

The following guidelines are intended to ensure the quality and consistency of the monographs published by the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine. In order to avoid delays in publication, duplication of effort, and added expense in time and resources, editors are responsible for ensuring that these guidelines are followed.

Table of Contents
Monographs should include a complete table of contents, listing chapters and page numbers in order. Monograph Format The entire monograph, including reference list, tables, legends, and text, should be printed in a consistent format on one side of 8 1/2" x 11" white paper.

1. All chapter authors should use the same typeface, type size and style for headlines and body copy. 2. Begin chapters on right-hand pages. A blank page may precede the chapter’s title page, if necessary.
3. The manuscript should include the following:

• A runner header with the title of the monograph on the left-hand page, and the title of the particular chapter on the right-hand page.
  
• Align the body copy. Justify only the left-hand margin.
  
• Use one space, not two, following the period at the end of each sentence.
• Manuscripts should be submitted camera-ready, which means they could be copied as is from the printed copy.
• Along with a printed copy, send a copy of the monograph on computer diskette. Most IBM and Macintosh software formats are acceptable.

References
The reference list should not include manuscripts in preparation, manuscripts submitted for publication but not yet accepted, observations, or personal communications.

Personal communications should be included parenthetically in the text, ie, “In a conversation with H.E. Marman, MD, (August 1998) . . .” or “Similar findings have been noted by Roberts6 and by H.E. Marman, MD (written communication, August 1998).”

References to unpublished material may include 1) articles that have been read before a conference but not published and 2) material accepted for publication but not yet published.

Information about software programs should not be included in the references but can be listed parenthetically in the text, ie, “The investigators compared findings using Ethnograph,® a software program for the computer-assisted analysis of text-based data (version 3.0, March 1988, Qualis Research Associates, Amherst, Mass, 413-256-8835).”

References should be numbered in the order in which they appear in the text. References should be written in the style shown in the examples below. Each reference should include the names and initials of the author(s), title of the journal (abbreviated according to Index Medicus usage) or book, the year, volume, and first and last page numbers.

Journal Reference:
1. DeHaven MJ, Wilson GR, O’Connor-Kettlestrings P. Creating a research culture: what we can learn from residencies that are successful in research. Fam Med 1998;30(7):501-7.

Book Reference:
2. Marcus LJ, Dorn BC, Kritek PB, Miller VG, Wyatt JB. Renegotiating health care. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1995.

Book Chapter:
3. Fink LD. Orientation programs. In: Sorcinelli MD, Austin AE, eds. New directions for teaching and learning: developing new and junior faculty. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 1992:39-49.

Unpublished Material:
4. Simpson DE, Morzinski J. Moving beyond the traditional faculty development program. Presented at the 1996 Society of Teachers of Family Medicine Annual Spring Conference in San Francisco.

5. Jones PQ, Moon ML. Assessing the knowledge of practicing physicians. Fam Med 1999;in press.

STFM does not verify the accuracy of literature citations in reference lists; therefore, it is essential for editors to ensure that all citations are correct and complete.

Monograph Copy Editing and Author Responsibility
After a monograph is accepted, it will be reviewed by STFM’s editorial and production staff to assure conformity to publication style and standards. Authors are responsible for the content of the published article, including copy editing after review. The monograph will be sent to the corresponding author for review and approval prior to publication. However, due to the cost and time involved, substantial rewriting of copy cannot be done at this time. Proofing changes will be limited to substantial omissions in copy and grammar and spelling errors.

Monograph Submission and Copyright Release
Mail monographs to Traci Nolte, Communications Director, Society of Teachers of Family Medicine, 11400 Tomahawk Creek Parkway, Ste 540, Leawood, KS 66211. Direct any questions about these guidelines to Ms Nolte at 913-906-6000, ext. 5420, tnolte@stfm.org.

All manuscripts must be accompanied by a cover letter, signed by all authors/editors. For multiple-author papers, it is acceptable to provide multiple original copies of the cover letter, each containing signature lines for all authors, with each author’s signature on one copy of the letter. The cover letter should include the following statement:

“We understand that this (publication name), or a revised version of publication, and any derivative uses of this publication, including electronic versions, will become the sole property of the Society of Teachers of Family Medicine.
We certify that we have no financial affiliation/interest (ie, employment, stock holdings, consultantships, honoraria) in the subject matter, materials, or projects mentioned in this monograph, except as stipulated below.”

If financial affiliations exist, they should be described at this point in the cover letter.

Manuscript Style
All STFM publications are edited to conform to the American Medical Association’s (AMA) Manual of Style, available at any medical library. For questions about style in text, references, tables, and figures, consult the AMA style manual.

The monograph must reflect writing proficiency and correct use of grammar, spelling, and symbols to assure transmission of accurate information. Abbreviations and acronyms should be kept to a minimum and spelled out on first reference. Drug names should be generic.

Subheadings are encouraged. Text should avoid sexual, cultural, and racial bias and use gender-inclusive language.

Style Rules
Some of these rules from the AMA Style Manual may appear strange until you are used to working with them, but STFM follows them to add consistency to our publications.

1. Write the following without periods.

• am, pm, ie, eg
• Dr, MD, PhD, MSW, etc.
• Mr, Ms, Jr
• US (when used as an adjective, spell out when United States is used as a noun)
• Washington, DC

2. Use a comma before the “and” in the last item in a series.
Ronald went to the store to buy a National Inquirer, a Diet Coke, and hair gel.

3. When not to use hyphens. Most of the time, the following prefixes are not joined by hyphens. Check your dictionary, if unsure of spelling.
“Anti, bi, co, extra, inter, intra, mid, multi, non, over, pre, post, pro, re, semi, super, trans, tri, un, under”

4. Watch for the following “tricky” words. The spellings below come from Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary, 10th edition.
cochair, workforce, database, lifestyle, health care, coeditor, codirector, multidisciplinary

5. When using people’s titles in a sentence, capitalize only if the title comes before the name, not after.
STFM Executive Director Roger Sherwood
John Frey, MD, STFM past president

Faxed forms will not be accepted. Attach additional pages as needed.
Please submit four copies of all proposal elements.

Monograph Submission Form

1. Subject of Monograph/Title

2. Authors/Institution
a._________________________________		f._________________________________
b._________________________________		g._________________________________
c._________________________________		h._________________________________
d._________________________________		i._________________________________
e._________________________________		j._________________________________

3. Sponsoring STFM Group:

Group Chair's Signature:

4. Monograph Editor Information:

a. Name and degree:

b. Institution:

c. Address:

d. Phone:

e.Fax:

5. Brief statement as to why it would be important or worthwhile for STFM to publish the monograph:

6. List complete table of contents with brief paragraph outlining what each chapter will cover.

7. Include justification of why proposed monograph differs from available literature on topic. Be specific. (List three texts and discuss similarities/differences).

8. Brief biographical sketch of editor—Include education, present employment, and previous relevant experience.

9. Estimate page count (for double-spaced, single sided pages). NOTE: The Communications Committee will favor monographs of fewer than 75 double-spaced, single-sided pages to facilitate a timely and thorough review of the monograph draft. Groups requesting longer monographs must include a justification for the additional pages.

10. Mail four copies of this completed form and information to:
Traci Nolte, Communications Director
Society of Teachers of Family Medicine
11400 Tomahawk Creek Parkway, Ste 540, Leawood, KS 66211
800-274-2237, ext. 5420 • tnolte@stfm.org