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JOURNAL MISSION
The Journal of Veterinary Medical Education publishes both individual submissions and commissioned papers. Individual submissions are encouraged in any area pertinent to veterinary education. They may include "Educational Research Reports," "Reports of Innovations in Veterinary Education," or Commentaries on aspects of or issues affecting veterinary education. We welcome reports from other areas of health sciences education that may be pertinent to veterinary education.

Commissioned papers can be either individual papers or part of a theme of papers of key pertinence to veterinary education commissioned by a member of the Editorial Board or a Guest Theme Editor. We welcome suggestions for potential themes. As the Editor or Editorial Board member sees fit, an individual submission may be included within a theme of papers that is currently in preparation.

PEER REVIEW
All papers are subject to peer review. The Journal has an identified panel of over 150 reviewers and will also seek additional reviewers as the topic of a paper requires.

GUIDELINES ON ANIMAL ETHICS AND WELFARE
All material published in JVME must adhere to high ethical and animal welfare standards. Any use of animals must be based on ethological knowledge and respect for species-specific requirements for health and well-being. Defined welfare standards must be applied in all studies involving living animals irrespective of species and function.

Animal ethics criteria for manuscript consideration

Manuscripts will be considered for publication only if the work detailed therein:

1. Follows international, national, and/or institutional guidelines for humane animal treatment; where national or institutional guidelines do not exist, international guidelines must be followed, e.g., National Institutes of Health or Euroguide (see references below);

2. Has been approved by a properly constituted internal ethics review committee at the institution or practice at which the studies were conducted;

3. For studies using client-owned animals, demonstrates a high standard (best practice) of veterinary care and involves informed client consent.

Prior to acceptance of a manuscript, to verify compliance with the above policies, the authors must:

1. Specify in Materials and Methods the ethical review committee approval process and the international, national, and/or institutional guidelines followed;

2. Alternatively, provide a letter signed by the submitting author certifying that legal and ethical requirements have been met with regard to the humane treatment of animals described in the study and/or provide other evidence, such as a signed animal use form, of compliance with ethical review at the institution.

Animal ethics criteria that may be cause for manuscript rejection
1. Manuscripts and authors that fail to meet the aforementioned requirements;
2. Studies that involve unnecessary pain, distress, suffering, or lasting harm to animals.

The Editor retains the right to reject manuscripts on the basis of animal ethical or welfare concerns.

References for Animal Ethics and Welfare
1. World Association of Medical Editors. Available at: www.wame.org.
2. Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals: Writing and Editing for Biomedical Publication. International Council of Medical Journal Editors. Available at: www.icmje.org.
3. Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals. National Institutes of Health Publication 85-23, Rockville, MD. 1996. Available at: http://www.nap.edu/catalog/5140.html 4. Euroguide on the Accommodation and Care of Animals Used for Experimental and Other Scientific Purposes. Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations. 2007. Available at: www.rsmpress.co.uk/bkfelasa.htm.

HUMAN SUBJECTS
For any paper describing original work in which human subjects have been used, that proposed work must have been approved by the Human Subjects Institutional Review Board (IRB) of the institution within whose jurisdiction the work is to be undertaken. Each paper reporting the results of such work must provide a specific notation within the Methods Section that the IRB has approved that research. HUMAN SUBJECT RESEARCH, FOR MOST INSTITUTIONS, INCLUDES ALL RESEARCH IN WHICH AN INDIVIDUAL'S OPINION HAS BEEN SOUGHT IN A CIRCUMSTANCE SUCH AS A SURVEY.

(Note If a study has been undertaken without IRB sanction when such was needed, some IRBs will give retroactive approval. Under ALL circumstances, IRB approval (prior or retroactive) is required for publication in the Journal.

PAPER FORMAT AND STRUCTURE:

Title
Titles must be succinct and informative.

Authors' Names and Author Information Section
On the title page list the author name(s) after the article title, in the following order: first name, initial, last name. Do not list any academic degrees or credentials of the authors on the title page.

At the end of the paper, all papers MUST have an Author Information section, providing a brief description (2-4 lines) for each of the authors, including their current academic or business mailing address, terminal academic degrees, diplomate status if desired, current position and area of research, and the e-mail address of the primary author to whom correspondence should be addressed.

Abstract
Other than short Commentaries, all papers MUST include a brief abstract of the article (maximum of 250 words-no exemptions). The abstract should be a single paragraph and SHOULD NOT contain headed sections. The abstract should concentrate on the purpose of the paper, the major results obtained, and the conclusions of primary interest. Details of methods should be given within the paper itself.

Key Words
The use of key subject words is optional, but when key words are used it is preferable to take them from the list of subjects by which papers in the Journal are classified. This list can be readily found by clicking on "Browse Educational Topics" on the home page at http://www.jvmeonline.org/cgi/collection/topics

Abbreviations
Words to be abbreviated should be spelled out in full the first time they appear in the text, with the abbreviation given in brackets. Thereafter the abbreviation should be used. It is preferable to use abbreviations only when the word is used multiple times (i.e., more than 3 or 4 times).

Divisions within a Paper-Paper Style
The style of a paper and the divisions used can vary to match the nature of the topic, especially for commissioned articles. Other than the requirement for a 250 word abstract there is no prescribed set of divisions for a paper. The exception to this is that reports of Educational Research must have Methods, Results, and Discussion sections. It is CRITICAL to avoid duplication between the Abstract, Introduction, Results, and Discussions sections. Recognizing that each has a separate purpose will avoid duplication. In most circumstances it is desirable to have a short Introduction section explaining the rationale for the study or report; specific methods used should be documented in a Method section, and it is most often desirable to have separate sections for Results and Discussion.

Within the paper three levels of headings are acceptable. Use boldface to indicate major headings, italics to indicate the first level of subheadings, and regular type for the lowest level of subheadings. Sections should not be numbered. Bulleted lists of sentences or phrases are acceptable and in many cases superior to plain text.

Tables
Tables should be numbered consecutively in order of citation within the text, with Arabic numerals, with a simple reference within the text such as (Table 1). Tables should be created in Microsoft Word or WordPerfect using the Tables function provided by these programs. Each table should have a short title and sufficient text with it to make the table understandable.

Figures and Figure Captions
Figures should be numbered consecutively in order of citation within the text, using Arabic numerals, and provided in black and white or grayscale. Each axis, and each line or bargraph depiction should be clearly denoted.

Do not provide screenshots of Web pages, as these are normally of much too low a resolution. Simply supply a reference to the URL (Web address) in the appropriate place.

Color figures: Color figures cannot be used in the printed version but may be included as a supplement in the eJVME edition. Please contact the Editorial Office for information.

Figure captions: Each figure must have a caption that briefly describes what is presented. This caption must be provided BOTH within the text of the paper, in a section towards the end of the paper labeled "Figure Captions," and above the figure, clearly separated from the figure itself.

References
All quotations and references must be documented with specific citations. Citations should be numbered in the order of their citation with superscript numbers. DO NOT use your word processor's Footnotes function to create superscript numbering, as you may need to use the same reference number more than once. The software programs Reference Manager, EndNote, and ProCite may be used. Superscript references should be placed outside of periods and commas, and inside colons and semicolons. References are numbered in order of citation. Citations should follow the following format:

For journal articles:
1 Smeak DD, Beck ML, Shaffer CA. Evaluation of video tape and a simulator for instruction of basic surgical skills. Vet Surg 20(1):30-36, 1991.
Please note that the complete article title and the names of all authors should be cited. Journal titles should be abbreviated following the abbreviations standards of Index Medicus or Biological Abstracts (note that abbreviations are never followed by a period, and initials are not separated by a space).

For books:
2 Beck A, Katcher A. Between Pets and People: The Importance of Animal Companionship, 2nd ed. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 1998 p127-132.
Note that the book title is capitalized (except for prepositions, articles, and conjunctions) and italicized. Page numbers or chapter numbers should be cited to direct the reader to the appropriate section.

For chapters:
3 Munro H. The battered pet: signs and symptoms. In Ascione FR, Arkow P, eds. Child Abuse, Domestic Violence, and Animal Abuse: Linking the Circles of Compassion for Prevention and Intervention. West Lafayette, IN: Purdue University Press, 1999:240-248.

For online documents:
4 Brown JP, Silverman, JD. May 1999 Executive Summary: The Current and Future Market for Veterinarians and Veterinary Medical Services in the United States. <http://aavmc.org/documents/es199905.htm>. Accessed 12/22/00. Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges, Washington, DC, 1999.
Note that the Web address (URL) is enclosed in angle brackets.

Endnotes (other than references)
Notes may be added at the end of the text to briefly enter explanatory or supplementary information or the source of materials. They should not be more than a single sentence. They should be given lower-case superscript letters (a, b, c…) in the order of their citation within the text and provided in a section at the end of the paper labeled NOTES. Use your word processing program's Footnotes function to create endnotes. In no case should footnotes at the bottom of each page be used.

Personal communications
Personal communications are acceptable ONLY IF they are accompanied by a letter of authorization from those cited. The date of the communication (day, month, and year) must be supplied. These letters of authorization must be provided at the time of original submission of the paper.

PREPARING THE PAPER FOR SUBMISSION
All submitted manuscripts should be in an electronic form. Text must be in either Microsoft Word or WordPerfect. Papers should be paginated. Use only a single space between sentences. Double-space all text. Within the text, hard returns should be used only at the ends of paragraphs and at the ends of items in lists. Do not insert manual page breaks, optional hyphens, non-breaking hyphens, or non-breaking spaces within the text. Use your word processing program's Page Setup functions to adjust margins when necessary. Do not use the space bar to indent paragraphs. Use a single, standard font for all text.

Tables should be created in Microsoft Word or WordPerfect using the Tables function provided by these programs. Tables should be EITHER at the end of the text file or submitted in a separate file. It is preferable that simple tables be at the end of the text file and that only the more complicated tables be submitted as separate files.

Each Figure should be submitted as an individual high-resolution (>300 dpi) JPEG or TIFF file. Figures should NEVER be embedded within the text. Wherever possible, create figures to fit within a single column of the printed page (excellent examples can be found in papers published within the last two years). Lines should be in heavy print, and words should be large enough and bold enough so that they will be clearly visible and readable when reduced to the typical journal size. The number of divisions on the axes should be only enough for an author to visualize the data (not for the reader to be able to read off a multi-digit number from the graph). The image file itself should NOT contain the caption.

BRIEF CHECKLIST FOR SUBMISSION.
1. Have you provided a Title Page?
2. Have you provided an Author Information section at the end of the paper?
3. Have you provided an Abstract of no more than 250 words?
4. Are your Tables denoted by Arabic numerals, and are they in order as cited in the text?
5. Are your Tables either at the end of the text file or submitted in as individual files?
6. Are your Figures denoted by Arabic numerals, and are they in order as cited in the text?
7. Have all your Figures been submitted as individual TIFF or JPEG files?
8. Have you provided a list of Figure Captions as part of the text document file?
9. Are your References cited in the required style of the Journal?
10. Have you obtained Human Subjects Approval if needed?
11. Have you obtained permission and submitted documentation for all Personal Communications cited?

PROCESS FOR SUBMISSION
All papers are preferably submitted via the eJPress JVME site, which can be accessed directly at http://jvme.msubmit.net/ Submission by e-mail attachment is acceptable, but this does not normally provide the full scope of information that is needed for paper submission.

COPY-EDITING AND PROOFS
All accepted manuscripts are subject to copy-editing. The contact author is responsible for responding promptly and accurately to copy-editing queries, which will be sent by e-mail. The contact author will receive a PDF proof of the article by e-mail. Corrections should be returned within 3 business days to guarantee inclusion; if not returned promptly, these may or may not be included, at the Editor's discretion. It is the submitting author's responsibility to provide the editorial office with an up to date e-mail address to ensure that these processes can be accomplished.
Proof correction must not be used as an opportunity to revise the paper. Any essential changes should take up the same amount of space as the existing text if possible. Alterations, other than corrections of printer's errors, are expensive and may be charged to authors. It is particularly important to read reference lists at the proof stage.

PAGE CHARGES
There are no page charges for papers published in the Journal.

SUPPLEMENTAL MATERIAL
Color figures and movies (with color and sound as needed) may be provided as supplemental material. At the Editor's discretion, these may be posted on the eJVME Web site OR on a Web site controlled by the author; in the latter case, the Journal must be given assurance that the Web site will be fully accessible to the readers for at least a five-year period. If deposited in the eJVME Web site, it will be available to readers for an indefinite period.

COPYRIGHT TRANSFER
Manuscripts are considered for publication with the understanding that they have not been submitted for consideration or published in whole or in part elsewhere, in either print or electronic format; that the work is original; and that the authors holds all rights to the contents of the article. Upon acceptance of the paper for publication, all authors must sign a copyright transfer form specifying assignment of the copyright to the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAVMC) for the publication of the paper in both print and online editions of the Journal.

Any subsequent publication of a paper elsewhere, once it has been published in the Journal, requires that permission of the AAVMC be obtained; normally, a substantial reason will be required as to why such subsequent publication elsewhere is of benefit to other than the author(s).

INQUIRIES concerning proposed papers for submission, including questions about topics that may be suitable for publication, should be submitted to

The JVME Editorial Office
Journal of Veterinary Medical Education
E-mail: jvme{at}aavmc.org
Phone: (202) 371-9195 X 23
Fax: (202) 842-0773

Postal Address:
Journal of Veterinary Medical Education
Association of American Veterinary Medical Colleges
1101 Vermont Avenue, NW, Suite 301
Washington, DC 20005-3536