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Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry Magazine
INFORMATION FOR AUTHORS
Scope of Magazine
Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry is a monthly magazine written exclusively for original equipment manufacturers of medical devices and in vitro diagnostic products. The goal of MD&DI is to help industry professionals develop, design, and manufacture medical products that comply with complex and demanding regulations and market requirements.
Readers are professional personnel in product R&D, design, manufacturing, quality assurance, regulatory affairs, and corporate management. Worldwide circulation is approximately 50,500. Subjects covered include:
- Business & Marketing
- Clean Manufacturing
- Design
- Diagnostics
- Drug Delivery
- Electronics
- Human Factors
- Labeling
- Legal Affairs
- Manufacturing/Production
- Materials
- New Technologies
- Packaging
- Plastics
- Quality Control/Assurance
- Regulatory Affairs
- Research & Development
- Site Selection
- Software
- Standards
- Sterilization
- Testing/Validation
- Training
Requirements for Publication
The publishability of a manuscript in MD&DI is determined by a variety of factors. Manuscripts must be clearly directed to MD&DI's readership, must not repeat recent coverage of the same topic, must be sharply focused on a well-defined thesis, and must meet the standards of peer reviewers. When possible, authors should consult with editorial staff before beginning manuscripts. Query letters, summaries, and outlines are welcome.
Manuscript Format
The appropriate length of submitted manuscripts varies with subject matter and audience. In general, manuscripts addressing topics of broad interest to a wide variety of MD&DI readers range from 2500 to 5000 words long; topics appealing to narrower audiences, such as one specific job category or type of manufacturer, typically do not exceed 3000 words. References and bibliographies are acceptable (see below for format); abstracts and footnotes to the text are not.
If submitted in hard copy only, manuscripts must be typed double-spaced and should have an unjustified (ragged) right column. Whenever possible, please submit manuscripts electronically, in either Microsoft Word, RTF, or plain-text (ASCII) format. Accompanying figures and images should not be embedded in the text file, but sent in separate files.
Tables
1. Tables should included at the end of the manuscript copy or in separate electronic files. 2. Tables should contain only words and common mathematical and technical symbols; art (arrows, etc.) should not be included. 3. Tables should be numbered (Roman numerals) in order of mention and clearly identified. 4. Each must have a brief title or legend; additional information may appear as footnotes to the table or as discussion in text. 5. When possible, tables should be limited to one per 1000 words of text (in other words, a 4000 word article would have no more than four tables).
Figures and Illustrations
1. Artwork must be provided in separate files, must not be included in the manuscript copy, and must correspond exactly to the text explanation. 2. Preferred electronic formats for line art, graphs, and images are TIFF, EPS, and JPEG. (Contact the editors for more details). 3. Figures should be numbered (Arabic numerals) in order of mention. 4. Each figure should have a brief title or legend; additional information should appear as discussion in text. 6. Figures or illustrations should be limited to one per 1000 words of text. 7. Hardcopy artwork and photography will be returned only on request.
References and Bibliographies
1. References should be typed double-spaced on a separate page, should be numbered in the order in which they are mentioned, and should be indicated in text by superscript Arabic numerals. 2. Bibliographies (i.e., suggested readings) are unnumbered and should be organized alphabetically. 3. Use the following styles:
Article in journal—
Culver DH, Horan T, Gaynes RP, et al., "Surgical Wound Infection Rates by Wound Class, Operative Procedure, and Patient Risk Index," Am J Med, 91:1525-1575, 1991.
Placencia AM, Arin ML, Peeler JT, et al., "Physical Tests Are Not Enough," Med Dev & Diag Indust, 11(9):72-78, 1988. (Issue number [9] needed because journal not consecutively paginated.)
Book and book chapter—
Putz-Anderson V, Cumulative Trauma Disorders, New York, Taylor & Francis, 1988.
Small A, "Design for Older People," in Handbook of Human Factors, Salvendy G (ed), New York, John Wiley, pp 499-500, 1987.
Standards and reports—
Selected ASTM Standards on Packaging, 2nd ed., Philadelphia, American Society for Testing and Materials, 1987.
Human Factors Engineering Guidelines and Preferred Practices for the Design of Medical Devices, AAMI HE-1988, Arlington, VA, Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation, 1988.
Proceedings and meeting abstracts—
Hernandez J, Klein K, Learned V, et al., "Isokinetic Wrist Strength of Females with Carpal Tunnel Syndrome," in Proceedings of the Human Factors Society 34th Annual Meeting, Santa Monica, CA, Human Factors Society, p 795, 1990.
Margolis WE and Finniman F, "What Quality Means to the Drug Industry," presented to the American Society for Microbiology at the 78th Annual Meeting, Dallas, May 1980. (For unpublished proceedings, give city and date of meeting where presentation was made, not the city of the organization's office.)
Legal citations—
Federal Register, 57 FR:10702
21 USC 551(4)
Community Nutrition Institute v. Young, 818 F2d, 943 (DC Cir 1987).
SMDA, Section 16, amending FD&C Act, Section 503.
Review Process
All manuscripts are subjected to double-blind peer review to ensure the quality and relevance of the materials. Manuscripts are also subject to copyediting. Authors are given the opportunity to review and approve or alter the edited draft before publication. On average, submissions require four to six weeks for review and one to three months for publication following review.
Conditions
1. Manuscripts are accepted for consideration with the understanding that they are unpublished and are not under review elsewhere. 2. While MD&DI does not discourage vendors or others engaged in the sale of products or services to our readers from submitting articles for publication, we do ask that authors disclose any financial interest in the material presented and strive to discuss it in a balanced, objective way. 3. No promotion of a specific brand or source of products or services is acceptable. Similarly, efforts to steer readers toward products or services offered by authors must be avoided. 4. Canon Communications LLC assumes the copyright to published manuscripts. 5. Canon Communications LLC assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts or artwork, although they are accepted for review. Unsolicited materials will not be returned unless accompanied by a self-addressed, stamped envelope.
How to Submit Your Manuscript
Submissions may be e-mailed to mddi@cancom.com, faxed to the attention of MD&DI at 310-445-4269, or mailed to
Editor
Medical Device & Diagnostic Industry
11444 W. Olympic Blvd.
Los Angeles, CA 90066.
When you are writing:
Spend Time on Your Lead or Thesis. A good lead will pull readers into your article. Leads can be witty, surprising, and controversial. Typically one to three paragraphs, leads can be questions (no more than three), case studies, or analogies. Good leads also get to the point of the article quickly. Technical articles should have a solid thesis, which is raised within the first few paragraphs of the story.
Spend Time on Your Conclusion. To quote the editors of the Harvard Business Review: "A good conclusion adds something new, but relevant, to the article—a forecast, a challenge, a clinching bit of evidence, or, ideally, something to do on Monday morning."
Substantiate What You Write. It’s not enough for you to say so. Support your statements with facts based on your observations and research. Show your logic (and provide a references section as needed).
Offer Practical Solutions and Insights. Try to answer questions the general reader might have about your topic. If possible, use real-life examples—people like to see what the "other guy" is doing.
Keep It Short. Keep articles and sentences short and to the point. Do not use 20 words where 10 will do.
Keep Your Article Focused. A long article may mean your topic is too broad. It’s not necessary to include paragraphs and paragraphs about a technology’s history and evolution. Instead, write about how one particular aspect of the technology will be changing how manufacturers produce product or write about "Three Ways to Reduce Time to Market."
Other Tips:
- Avoid cliches.
- Use active instead of passive voice. (For example, rather than writing "This standard was published by ISO in 1996," write "ISO published this standard in 1996.")
- Don’t promote a commercial product, service, or company.
- Avoid excessive jargon, and define the terms you use.
- Ask an objective colleague to read your article and provide feedback.
- Before mailing your article, double-check the facts.
Once we receive your article:
- Your Article Will Be Reviewed. All MD&DI articles are reviewed by a panel of medical device and diagnostics industry experts to ensure that articles are factually correct and relevant to our readers.
- Your Article Will Be Edited. Everyone who writes for MD&DI is edited for space, clarity, or style. Typically articles are edited to eliminate wordiness and awkward sentences, to add punch to a lead or part of an article, or to make the organization more logical. You will receive a copy of your edited article to review prior to publication to ensure no factual errors have occurred.
Thanks again for your interest in MD&DI. We look forward to seeing your article.
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